Plaintiff Angela McMiller has filed a class action complaint against several major tire manufacturers, including The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Continental Aktiengesellschaft, Michelin North America, Inc., Nokian Tyres PLC, Pirelli & C. S.p.A., and Bridgestone Corporation. The complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on May 30, 2024.
The lawsuit alleges that these companies engaged in a conspiracy to fix prices for new replacement tires sold in the United States. According to McMiller, this price-fixing scheme violated both federal antitrust laws under the Sherman Antitrust Act and Clayton Act and various state antitrust laws. The plaintiff claims that this collusion resulted in artificially high prices for consumers purchasing replacement tires for passenger cars, vans, trucks, and buses.
The complaint details how the defendants allegedly coordinated their pricing strategies through public communications and frequent parallel price increase announcements. For instance, from 2011 to 2020, tire prices were relatively stable with minor fluctuations. However, over the past four years, there have been at least 65 price increase announcements among the defendants. Notably, on March 3, 2020, Goodyear announced a price increase of up to 5% on its consumer tires effective April 1 of that year. Similarly, other companies like Pirelli and Bridgestone followed suit with their own price hikes shortly thereafter.
The lawsuit also highlights that these price increases were often justified by citing rising raw material costs and inflation-impacted expenses. However, Goodyear's Chief Financial Officer Darren Wells admitted during a May 6, 2022 earnings call that their price increases more than offset their costs. This statement suggests that the inflated prices were not solely due to increased production costs but rather a result of coordinated efforts among competitors.
In addition to direct evidence of collusion through public statements and synchronized pricing actions, the complaint argues that the tire market is highly susceptible to such conspiracies due to its concentrated nature and significant barriers to entry for new competitors. The top three companies—Goodyear, Michelin, and Bridgestone—control nearly two-thirds of the U.S. replacement tire market.
McMiller seeks injunctive relief under federal antitrust laws as well as damages and restitution under state antitrust statutes. The plaintiffs are asking for monetary compensation for overcharges paid due to the alleged price-fixing scheme and an injunction to prevent future violations.
Representing McMiller are attorneys from various law firms specializing in complex litigation and class actions. The case ID is 1:24-cv-04459.