German regulator slaps €11.9m fine on Maxxis and two tire wholesalers for price-fixing

Germany’s Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt) has levied fines totalling €11.9 million on Maxxis International GmbH and two tire wholesalers—Best4Tires Berlin GmbH (B4T Berlin) and Reifen Mueller GmbH & Co. KG—for operating a vertical price-fixing scheme involving Maxxis and CST brand tires. The authority announced the penalties on 21 July 2026, concluding an investigation that began after a third wholesaler disclosed the arrangements and cooperated with the probe. According to the Bundeskartellamt, Maxxis, the sole German importer of tires produced by Taiwan’s Cheng Shin Rubber Ind. Co. Ltd, entered into margin-guarantee agreements with B4T Berlin and Reifen Mueller around the 2015/16 turn. These agreements locked in minimum margins for every Maxxis and CST tire sold and discouraged wholesalers from acting as price leaders, instead pushing a defensive pricing stance—especially on the Tyre24 online marketplace. Maxxis later rolled out similar deals with nine additional wholesalers. The Bundeskartellamt also uncovered a price-moderation system that relied on recommended resale prices, real-time monitoring of actual selling prices (notably on Tyre24), and systematic interventions whenever Maxxis judged prices too low. The system exploited Tyre24’s dual-role feature, which allowed companies to register as both suppliers and buyers, giving them direct visibility into competitor stock levels and transaction prices. Maxxis discontinued the price-moderation system and terminated remaining margin-guarantee agreements in July 2024 once the investigation was underway. Bundeskartellamt president Andreas Mundt stated that vertical price-fixing harms consumers by inflating prices and stressed that such practices have been illegal in Germany since the early 1970s. He added that agreements guaranteeing distributors a set margin violate competition law when they restrict sellers’ pricing freedom. The authority fined B4T Berlin and Reifen Mueller because they insisted on the margin guarantees and received substantial compensation payments. Fines were reduced for Maxxis and B4T Berlin due to their cooperation during the investigation; Maxxis and Reifen Mueller also entered into settlement agreements. The penalty notices are not yet final and remain subject to appeal before the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court.