German carmakers and parts groups raided in steel purchase cartel probe
德国6大车企及部件厂遭突击搜查
广州汽车翻译公司：这次搜查由德国反垄断机构“联邦卡特尔局”在6月23日进行，理由是这几家公司涉嫌在购买钢材时互相勾结。
Six of Germany’s largest carmakers and parts suppliers were raided by the country’s cartel authority yesterday over suspicions that they had colluded when buying steel.
德国6家最大的汽车制造商和零部件供应商昨日遭到德国反垄断机构“联邦卡特尔局”(Federal Cartel Authority)突击搜查，理由是这几家公司涉嫌在购买钢材时互相勾结。广州汽车翻译公司。
Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz owner Daimler confirmed the raids, which were conducted on June 23 by Germany’s Federal Cartel Office, supported by police and crime authorities.
此次搜查由联邦卡特尔局于6月23日进行，获得了警方和刑事部门的支持。大众(Volkswagen)、宝马(BMW)和梅塞德斯-奔驰(Mercedes-Benz)所有者戴姆勒(Daimler)证实了此次搜查。
Bosch and ZF, two of the country’s largest parts suppliers to the car ­industry, were raided at two separate locations, the companies confirmed.
德国两家最大的汽车业零部件供应商博世(Bosch)和采埃孚(ZF)也证实，它们分别在两处受到突击搜查。广州汽车翻译公司。
The sixth company has not made itself known.
第6家遭到突击搜查的公司没有自我公开。
The raids follow a number of probes in recent years on car parts ranging from airbags to lighting systems.
在此次突击搜查之前，近年来汽车零部件行业已受到多项调查，调查对象包括安全气囊和照明系统。
Joaquín Almunia, the EU’s former antitrust chief, quipped in 2014 that if each part under investigation were added up, “we can have almost a fully-fledged car”.
前欧盟竞争事务专员华金•阿尔穆尼亚(Joaquín Almunia)曾在2014年嘲讽道，如果将调查的各个零部件组装起来，“我们几乎能得到一辆完整的汽车”。 广州汽车翻译公司。
A spokesman for the cartel office said the investigations could last months, or in some cases three to five years. He clarified that the suspicions related to the purchasing of steel, rather than the classic cartel practice of colluding over prices of goods to be sold.
联邦卡特尔局一名发言人表示，此次调查可能会持续数月，在某些情况下可能需要三到五年。他澄清说，调查涉及钢材采购，而不是经典的卡特尔行为，即企业在产品售价上串通。
“It’s very difficult to make a judgment,” Marc-René Tonn, analyst at Warburg Research, said. The fact that the probe was about steel added a layer of uncertainty because there were so many different kinds of the material used for different purposes in a car.
Warburg Research分析师马克-勒内•托恩(Marc-René Tonn)表示：“这很难作出判断。”此次调查的对象是钢材，这增加了一层不确定性，因为钢材在一辆汽车上有这么多不同的用途。广州汽车翻译公司。
Steel is one of the most important materials for the car industry, accounting for about a third of raw material costs. An average car contains about 900kg of steel, according to the World Steel Association.
钢材是汽车业最重要的材料之一，占原材料成本约三分之一。据世界钢铁协会(World Steel Association)的数据，一辆普通汽车含有900公斤左右钢材。
In 2014 the EU fined German parts supplier Schaeffler €371m and Sweden’s SKF €315m for colluding with four Japanese suppliers on sales of ball bearings. The investigations began with raids in November 2011.
2014年欧盟对德国零部件供应商舍弗勒(Schaeffler)处以3.71亿欧元罚款，对瑞典斯凯孚(SKF)处以3.15亿欧元罚款，理由是它们与四家日本供应商在滚珠轴承销售上相互串通。那次调查始于2011年11月的突击搜查。
The Federal Cartel Office has the power to levy fines of up to 10 per cent of turnover, though this upper limit is rarely reached.
德国联邦卡特尔局有权处以高达营业额10%的罚款，不过这一上限很少触及。
