On Monday, the European Commission — the executive body of the European Union — announced it has fined 15 car manufacturers for colluding and participating in what it described as "a long-lasting cartel" to prevent competition on vehicle recycling and the use of recycled materials in their cars.

Volkswagen, Stellantis, 13 other carmakers and their car association were fined a total of 458 million euros ($495 million) by EU antitrust regulators on Tuesday for taking part in a vehicle recycling cartel.

The European Commission, which raided the companies three years ago, said the cartel, which involved end-of-life vehicles, took place from May 2002 to September 2017