ESG Enforcement Tracker

Key facts:

On 1 April 2025, following an investigation opened in March 2022, ten car manufacturers and two trade bodies were fined a total of £77,688,917 by the CMA after illegally agreeing not to compete against one another when advertising what percentage of their cars can be recycled. The manufacturers also illegally colluded to avoid paying third parties to recycle their customers’ scrap cars.

Mercedes-Benz, which was also involved in these agreements, was exempt from paying a financial penalty as it alerted the CMA to its participation via the authority’s leniency policy.

Advertising Claims
In the UK, car manufacturers are legally required to include, among other sustainability information, details on recyclability in their advertising materials, so customers can take this into account when considering a vehicle’s green credentials before buying.

In this case, the CMA found that from May 2002 to September 2017, ten manufacturers illegally agreed that they would not advertise if their vehicles went above the minimum recyclability requirement of 85% (even if the actual percentage was higher). An eleventh manufacturer (Jaguar Land Rover) joined the agreement in September 2008. In addition, with the exception of Renault, all the manufacturers also agreed not to share information with their customers about the percentage of recycled material used in their vehicles.

The CMA’s investigation found that the agreement was set out in a document called the ‘ELV Charta’ – sometimes referred to as a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ – and sought to ‘avoid a competitive race’ amongst the manufacturers in relation to advertising claims of this kind. This agreement was referenced in emails, internal documents and meeting minutes, and certain manufacturers challenged others when they breached this agreement.

Buyers’ Cartel
Vehicle manufacturers must offer their customers a free service for recycling their old or written-off vehicles having no or negative market value (known in the industry as ‘end-of-life vehicles’ or ELVs), and this service is regularly outsourced to third parties.

The CMA’s investigation also revealed that from April 2004 to May 2018, eight of the car manufacturers were involved in what is known as a ‘buyers’ cartel’ in relation to this service, whereby they agreed amongst themselves that they would not pay companies to handle the recycling of their customers’ ELVs. This effectively meant the companies providing this service were unable to negotiate a price with manufacturers.

Other manufacturers and two trade bodies (ACEA and SMMT) later joined the agreement. The CMA’s investigation found that the manufacturers used ACEA meetings to facilitate these arrangements, with the association itself chairing meetings and intervening when manufacturers acted outside of the terms. The SMMT also attended these meetings and likewise became involved by settling a handful of disputes.

Settlement and Fines
All of the car makers and industry bodies, except for Mercedes-Benz (which was granted immunity from penalties), have now settled with the CMA – meaning they have admitted to taking part in illegal behaviour – and agreed to pay fines totalling £77,688,917.

Parallel European Commission Investigation
The European Commission (EC) launched a parallel probe alongside the CMA in March 2022. The EC also issued its own decision on 1 April 2025 imposing fines for breaches of EU law (the EC’s press release can be found here.