Household appliances: €611 million in fines imposed on 12 companies for vertical price fixing

The Autorité de la concurrence has imposed fines totalling €611 million on 12 vertical price agreements between manufacturers and distributors in the sector for the manufacture and sale of large and small household appliances. The agreements were implemented between February 2007 and December 2014, with the aim of keeping sales prices high, in particular in the face of emerging competing online distributors.

The companies sanctioned are BSH, Candy Hoover, Eberhardt, Electrolux, Whirlpool (as successor to Indesit), LG, Miele, SEB, Smeg, Whirlpool, Boulanger and Darty.