In a news conference today, US Attorney General Eric Holder had announced that nine Japanese firms have plead guilty to charges of conspiracy to fix prices on parts it had sold to US auto firms. The Japanese companies include Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd, Hitachi Automotive Systems Ltd and seven others.

The targets of the price fixing conspiracy were General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co., Chrysler Group LLC and Toyota Motor Corp. The Japanese companies had inflated the costs of over USD5 billion worth of parts, which was a major factor in the pricing of over 25 million cars in the US.

In his statement, Attorney General Holder said, "The conduct this investigation uncovered involved more than a dozen separate conspiracies aimed at the US economy. Although these cartels operated totally independently, they targeted US manufacturing, US businesses and US consumers."

The announcement had increased the criminal fines charged by the ongoing investigation of price fixing in the autoparts industry to over USD1.6 billion with twenty companies and twenty one individuals charged in court. Seventeen of the 21 executives have been meted out jail sentences in the US or have entered into significant plea agreements. 

Hitachi Automotive had agreed to pay USD195 million in fines, while Mitsubishi had settled at USD190 million. Mitsuba Corp agreed to pay USD135 million and Jtekt agreed to pay a USD103.3 million fine.