Five-Year UK Legal Fight Over Car Carrier Cartel Nears End With $72M Settlement

A five-year legal battle in the UK against major shipping companies involved in a car carrier cartel has concluded with a proposed £54 million (USD 72 million) settlement, bringing total compensation for UK consumers and businesses to £92.75 million.

Class representative Mark McLaren announced the settlement with the final two defendants, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK), following a nine-week trial that began in January 2025. The Competition Appeal Tribunal has scheduled a settlement approval hearing in January.

The collective action targeted shipping companies that operated a cartel affecting the transportation of 17 million new cars and vans to the UK between October 2006 and September 2015. The cartel impacted vehicles from major European brands including Ford, Vauxhall, Volkswagen, Peugeot, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Toyota, Citroen, and Renault that were sold or leased by UK consumers and businesses.

The latest settlement follows earlier agreements with “K” Line, WWL/EUKOR, and CSAV reached in January 2025 and December 2023. The original claim was valued at £150 million.

“Since I launched this case five years ago, I was confident that this claim would result in significant damages being awarded to UK consumers and businesses,” McLaren said. “I am pleased that this historic settlement agreement not only resolves wrongful anti-competitive, cartelist actions, but also allows for class members to finally be compensated for their financial losses. This outcome also shows how the UK’s opt-out regime is working exactly as intended, giving both consumers and businesses an effective and fair route to recover monies owed as a result of cartel behaviour that they could never pursue on their own.”

Cian Mansfield, Managing Partner of Scott+Scott UK LLP, which represented McLaren, emphasized the significance of the outcome. “This settlement marks a significant milestone for UK consumers and businesses that paid higher shipping fees for new purchased or leased vehicles as a result of the cartel as it concludes the litigation and guarantees them significant compensation,” Mansfield said. “This case is groundbreaking as it is the first time damages will be distributed to UK businesses under the opt-out regime.”

Charlie Morris, Chief Investment Officer of Woodsford, the litigation funder backing the case, described the settlement as validation of the UK’s collective action regime. “At a time when the Department for Business and Trade is carrying out a review of the collective action regime, this action is the paradigm example of why the regime is so important,” Morris said. “It has allowed thousands of UK consumers and businesses to access justice and receive meaningful compensation when they might not otherwise have been able to do so.”

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