Compass Lexecon Advises in Automotive Ball Bearing Cartel Damages Litigation

In March 2014, the European Commission ("EC") fined six producers of automotive (car and truck) bearings for coordinating their pricing strategy vis-à-vis automotive customers for more than seven years across the EEA (Case COMP/39922). Automotive bearings are used by car, truck and car part manufacturers to reduce friction between moving parts inside a vehicle, such as wheel bearings, bearings for gearbox, transmission, alternator, or air conditioning systems.

In light of potential damages claims, Compass Lexecon estimated damages from the ball bearing cartel in France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK for one of the cartelists. Our work focused on the calculation of the Value of Commerce and the identification of affected sales. We conducted regression analyses to estimate the overcharge during the cartel period, which involved during-after and difference-in-difference analyses. Based on the estimated overcharge, we calculated the potential damages that could be claimed by the car and truck manufacturers as a result of the cartel.

The Compass Lexecon team included Jorge Padilla, Elena Zoido, Thilo Klein, Soledad Pereiras, Catalina Campillo and Carolina Ortega.