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Kayaba, Sumitomo to pay millions for price-fixing in US

Kayaba Industry Co, which does business in the US as suspension parts maker KYB, and Sumitomo Electric Industries are facing payments in the millions to settle price-fixing cases about the components that they make. As part of the Department of Justice's ongoing crackdown of price fixing in the auto industry, KYB agreed to pay $62 million and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to set the cost of shock absorbers from the mid '90s through 2012. The company allegedly worked with co-conspirators to keep the cost of the parts high, and those components then made it into vehicles from Honda, Kawasaki, Nissan, Subaru, Suzuki, and Toyota. "Any collusive agreement among competitors to restrict price competition undercuts our free enterprise system and violates the law," said Carter M. Stewart, US Attorney of the Southern District of Ohio, in the DoJ's announcement. Over the past few years, the DoJ has brought cases against 37 parts suppliers and 55 executives, leading to over $2.6 billion in fines. The investigations haven't always been so successful – some of the Japanese execs fled from the US to avoid prosecution. Critics allege that price fixing is simply how business is done. According to Automotive News, Sumitomo Electric Industries is also facing a $50 million settlement in a civil lawsuit that's related to price fixing of parts like wiring harnesses and heater control panels. The plaintiffs include owners and dealers that purchased vehicles with these parts. The company asserts that the violations are from before 2010, and it now has different process in place to avoid further violations. KYB Agrees to Plead Guilty and Pay $62 Million Criminal Fine for Fixing Price of Shock Absorbers Kayaba Industry Co. Ltd., dba KYB Corporation (KYB) has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $62 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix the price of shock absorbers installed in cars and motorcycles sold to U.S. consumers. According to charges filed today, KYB conspired from the mid-1990s until 2012 to fix the prices of shock absorbers sold to Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (manufacturer of Subaru vehicles), Honda Motor Co. Ltd., Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., Nissan Motor Company Ltd., Suzuki Motor Corporation and Toyota Motor Company, including their subsidiaries in the United States.

Honda recalls Accord to replace airbag control unit

The Basics: Honda will recall 341,444 examples of the 2008-2010 Accord sedan in the US. The Problem: Moisture can enter the supplemental restraint system electronic control unit and cause corrosion. Over time, this could cause the part to fail, which might prevent the airbags from deploying in a crash. Injuries/Deaths: Honda confirms two injuries from this problem. The Fix: Dealers will replace the supplemental restraint system electronic control unit. If You Own One: Honda won't begin the recall until fall 2016 because of the large number of vehicles that will need the repair. The company will inform owners about the problem by mail in mid-March and will notify them again when the parts are available. However, if owners see the supplemental restraint system warning light illuminate before the recall begins, they can visit a dealer for a diagnostic check. If technicians find the problem, then they can replace electronic control unit immediately from Honda's limited supply of replacement parts. Related Video: Statement by American Honda Regarding SRS Electronic Control Unit Recall: 2008-2010 Honda Accord Sedan Feb 3, 2016 - TORRANCE, Calif. Approximately 341,000 Accord Sedans affected in the United States The SRS electronic control unit will be replaced, free of charge Two injuries have been confirmed related to this issue American Honda will voluntarily recall approximately 341,000 Honda Accord Sedans from the 2008-2010 model years in the U.S. to replace the Supplemental Restraint System (SRS) electronic control unit. Manufacturing process issues may allow moisture to enter the circuitry within the SRS electronic control unit, which, over time, can cause corrosion and eventual malfunction of the unit. If the SRS control unit fails from this scenario, the SRS indicator will illuminate on the vehicle's dashboard, and, in the event of a vehicle crash, the airbags may not deploy, increasing the risk of injury. Honda has confirmed two injuries related to this issue. A new SRS control unit will be installed in affected vehicles, free of charge. However, due to the large volume of new parts needed to repair affected units, the necessary parts will not be available until fall 2016. As a result, owners of affected vehicles will be informed of the recall in an initial mailed notification letter in mid-March 2016. A second notification letter will be sent to inform owners when parts become available.

How to charge up your BMW i3 with a Honda

Behold a cheaper version of BMW's range extender for its i3 plug-in. And it's brought to you by ... Honda? Sort of, if you take the approach that Gadget Review took when it looked for an alternative to ponying up the $4,000 or so for the gas-powered i3 range extender that comes from the factory. What was procured was a Honda portable generator for Home Depot for the experiment, which involved gassing the generator up in a parking lot, plugging in the i3 and going out for a cup of coffee. The result was that, after about a half-hour of charging, the i3 picked up about four miles of driving range. Not exactly revolutionary but it least a bit instructive. And given that Honda generators start at about $800, the idea, while clunky, is potentially cash-saving. Gadget Review briefly took the experiment one-step further by trying to run the generator inside the back of the car and plugging in, complete with a rigged-up ventilation system, but the host thought better of it once he realized that there'd be suffocation involved. Why this was never tried on the Nissan Leaf, we'll never know. Check out Gadget Review's five-minute video below.