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This is the eighth issue of our newsletter on developments in the automotive industry published by Morgan Lewis’s automotive practice, adding contributions from around the globe by leveraging the experience of the lawyers in our 28 offices. We counsel our automotive clients on a broad range of industry-specific issues, including matters relating to mergers and acquisitions (M&A), antitrust, litigation, regulatory concerns, intellectual property, and labor and employment.
This issue of Morgan Lewis AUTOMOTIVE, which covers the second quarter of2016, touches on issues relating to the connected car, autonomous vehicles, and other developments in the global automotive markets.
In this issue:
- M&A Developments: Nissan’s decision to become the largest shareholder of Mitsubishi Motors; Freudenberg’s acquisition of full control of Vibracoustic; BASF’s acquisition of Chemetall; Midea’s bid for Germany’s industrial robots supplier Kuka; Valeo’s acquisition of FTE Automotive; KKR’s proposed investment in Takata; 3i Group’s acquisition of Schlemmer; MAN Truck & Bus’s investment in FR8 Revolution; and Mann+Hummel’s acquisition of Affinia.
- Antitrust Developments: The United States imposes fines on Corning International KK Tokay Kogyo and Maruyasu Industries for fixing the prices for components; Hitachi Chemical to plead guilty to fixing capacitor prices; German Federal Supreme Court clarifies rules regarding access to an authorized repair shop network.
- Regulatory Developments: The United States sets new rules for compliance of rental car agencies for safety related recalls; Germany clears regulatory hurdles regarding automated vehicles and investigates diesel cars for compliance with NOx standards; Google, Uber, Lyft, Ford, and Volvo form a lobbying group; CEO of Suzuki Motors resigns over fuel economy scandal.
- IP Developments: Enactment of the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) in the United States with positive aftermath for automotive companies; announcement of new vehicle cybersecurity products; several auto companies participate in large patent purchase program; the Thomson Reuters’s 2016 state of Innovation Report documents, that automotive innovation remains robust.