North American car makers have been slapped with a $2-billion class action lawsuit by four Toronto residents who claim the car industry conspired to inflate the price of motors in Canada and also inhibited cross-border vehicle shopping on the strong Canadian dollar.
The suit, filed with the Ontario Superior Court, covers consumers who bought cars between August 2005 and August 2007.
They say they forked out more money to buy cars in Canada than similar or identical models cost in the United States.
Named in the lawsuit are the Canadian and U.S. divisions of General Motors, Honda, Nissan and Chrysler.
The plaintiffs called the plan between firms a 'conspiracy' that involved a 'series of concerted actions, agreements and directives' between the companies designed to minimise cross-border competition and the number of new cars that crossed the border.
The allegations also include claims that the car makers agreed not to honour warranties for vehicles purchased across the border, forcing Canadian consumers who wanted a manufacturer's warranty to pay 25 to 35 per cent more on average for a vehicle in Canada.
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 4 3"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1 1"%3E%3C/svg%3E)