NEW YORK
A judge sentenced a hearing company to pay $14.9 million as a criminal fine for price fixing scheme involving 
parking heaters used in commercial vehicles, according to officials.
Espar Inc. pleaded guilty to a one-count felony charge in federal court, officials said.
“Today’s sentencing drives home the message that the Department of Justice will not tolerate price fixing that thwarts free competition by setting minimum prices and coordinating price increases,” said Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. “This conspiracy among sellers of parking heaters resulted in many years of higher prices for aftermarket customers. While the Antitrust Division is pleased with this final resolution of the charge against Espar, we will continue our efforts to root out anticompetitive practices in this industry.”
According to the charge, this is how the Espar conspired with others to fix prices for parking heaters in the United States and elsewhere in North America from at least as early as Oct. 1, 2007, until Dec. 31, 2012.
Parking heaters are devices that heat the interior compartment of a motor vehicle independent of the operation of the vehicle’s engine.
Officials said Espar and its co-conspirators discussed parking heater prices for commercial vehicles, agreed to set a price floor for parking heater kits for commercial vehicles sold to aftermarket customers and agreed to coordinate the timing and amount of price increases for parking heaters for commercial vehicles sold to aftermarket customers.
The conspiring companies carried out the agreement and exchanged information for the purpose of monitoring and enforcing adherence to the agreement.