A million-dollar lawsuit in the United States is redefining the long-simmering dispute between Volkswagen and its supplier Prevent. Prevent accuses the car maker, among other things, violations of antitrust law and demands 750 million dollars in damages. The company filed the lawsuit in a federal district court in the state of Michigan.
VW has prevented anti-competitive measures that smaller suppliers in the US are taken over by larger companies such as Prevent, it said in a statement from the company. For example, Volkswagen has obliged small suppliers to not sell their business to Prevent and to report purchase offers from other companies.
In this way, in Michigan alone several takeovers have been prevented by Prevent of VW, it was said. Thus the company wanted to keep the companies small and their own market power as large as possible.
"The claim is without foundation"
The Prevent Group belongs to the Bosnian entrepreneurial family Hastor and in recent years has repeatedly argued violently with VW for delivery terms - even in court. In Wolfsburg the tapes stopped several times, because Prevent companies wanted to enforce price increases with delivery stops. VW reacted with terminations of the supply contracts. Prevent also argues with Daimler.
Volkswagen rejected the recent allegations of Prevent. "The lawsuit has no basis in our view," said the Wolfsburg-based company. It would be against all judicial means to defend against it. "In our view, we did not cause damage to Prevent, but prevent us, which we will claim," it said.