1996 Suzuki Carry Dump Bed on 2040-cars

Auto blog

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.

Drive pits Ariel Nomad against Suzuki bike

Ariel introduced the Nomad at the beginning of the year, which is basically an Atom converted to sand-rail duty with the addition of features like a composite cage and waterproof cockpit, Hella light bar, and Ohlins suspension with hydraulic bump stops. Evo reviewed it not long after, now Drive has got hold of it and put Steve Sutcliffe at the wheel, sending him to the Sweet Lamb Rally Center in Wales. The Nomad in this guise also gets a winch and BF Goodrich tires with a rear high-mounted spare. The motor is a US-spec, 2.4-liter Honda unit tuned to 240 horsepower and 235 pound-feet of torque, all going to the rear wheels only. The weight is just 1,477 pounds. For kicks, they sent Northern Irish motocrosser Graeme Irwin along to give Sutcliffe a point of reference. We're used to seeing cars battle bikes, and unless it's wet or the race goes to beyond 200 miles per hour the bike almost always takes it. Irwin was on his Suzuki RMZ-450, a bike with about 60 hp, but that, combined with Irwin's skills, was plenty enough to keep Sutcliffe hard at work. You can watch the dust fly in the video above. Related Video:

Indian diamond merchant gives 600 new cars to his staff

NEW DELHI — India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi helped a diamond merchant present hundreds of new cars as gifts to his employees on Thursday. Six hundred employees of Hari Krishna Exporters, a diamond trading company run by Savji Dholakia, received cars made by Indian manufacturer Maruti Suzuki, while around 1,000 more staffers were offered gifts of cash deposits and apartments in a huge outdoor ceremony in Surat, Gujarat. Indians often give each other gifts in the run-up to Diwali, a major Hindu festival celebrating the triumph of good over evil that this year falls on Nov. 7. Modi addressed the prize-giving in his home state of Gujarat via video link, as well as presenting some of the employees with car keys in the capital New Delhi. Dholakia is famous across India for giving lavish gifts to his employees at Diwali, including hundreds of apartments in 2016's ceremony. The showroom value of the 600 cars would be more than $2 million. Gift-giving in the latter part of the year when several Hindu festivals are celebrated provides a major boost to India's economy. The gifts were part of a program targeting staff who have given loyal service to the diamond trader. "The aim of this program was to reward employees' loyalty and dedication towards the company," Dholakia said in a Facebook post.Reporting by Alasdair Pal Related Video: Image Credit: Reuters Auto News Weird Car News Suzuki