German auto company Volkswagen parts supplier, Prevent Group, on Monday filed a lawsuit alleging that the German automaker used anticompetitive tactics to prevent larger suppliers like their company from acquiring smaller rivals in the United States.
In the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Detroit, an auto parts supplier alleged that Volkswagen had extracted written acknowledgments from suppliers not to sell to the company Prevent Group, Reuters reports.
Volkswagen did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for comment.
The company, which is seeking damage in excess of more than $ 750 million, said that after the diesel emissions scandal, Volkswagen used its market power to pressure smaller suppliers and prevent any acquisitions in order to reduce costs.
Lower-level Volkswagen suppliers had no other choice but to go bankrupt or to comply with Volkswagen’s “unfair terms and prices,” as Prevent said in a statement.
In 2016, Volkswagen and two of its suppliers, who were part of Prevent, resolved a contract dispute that had hit production at more than half of German automaker factories and threatened to disrupt its recovery from the diesel emissions scandal, Vijesti.ba news portal reports.
