(Adds comment from TRW spokesman)
By Brendan Pierson
Sept 23 (Reuters) - Japanese auto parts maker Yazaki Corp has agreed to pay $76 million to U.S. car buyers to settle civil price-fixing claims in federal court, attorneys for the buyers said on Tuesday.
The settlement is the largest to come out of ongoing multidistrict litigation over auto parts price-fixing, which has been consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan since 2012. The car buyers previously reached settlements of $4.5 million with Japan's Nippon Seiki Co, $3.4 million with Southfield, Michigan-based Lear Corp, and $19 million with Stockholm-based Autoliv.
The size of Yazaki's settlement reflects the fact that Yazaki makes a large number of parts that are used in most cars, according to attorney Hollis Salzman, of Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi, which represents the buyers.
Salzman said the settlement was "an excellent result for the class" of car buyers, which she said could include "hundreds of thousands, if not millions" of individuals.
In addition, TRW Automotive Holdings Corp, which has agreed to be acquired by Germany's ZF Friedrichshafen, agreed to pay $5.4 million, Robins Kaplan said Tuesday. TRW was accused of fixing prices of passenger safety restraints, including seat belts and airbags.
Both settlements must be approved by U.S. District Judge Marianne Battani, who is presiding over the litigation.
Salzman said she did not yet know how much her firm would seek in fees.
Yazaki spokeswoman Misty Matthews did not immediately return a call for comment.
John Wilkerson, a TRW spokesman, declined to comment.
In addition to the proposed class of car buyers represented by Robins Kaplan, the litigation includes proposed classes of car dealers, truck dealers and direct purchasers of auto parts. Some parts makers have also reached settlements with those classes. None of the classes has yet been certified by the court.
The civil antitrust litigation arose from a criminal probe by the U.S. Department of Justice that began in 2010. The -fixing probe continues to yield new indictments. Last week, three executives from Mitsubishi Electric Corp and four from Hitachi Automotive Systems were indicted by a federal grand jury in Michigan.
Yazaki and TRW both pleaded guilty to price-fixing charges in 2012. Yazaki agreed to pay a fine of $470 million, and TRW a fine of $5 million.
In all, 28 companies have pleaded guilty to price fixing and agreed to a total of $2.8 billion in fines, the DOJ said earlier this month.
The case is Automotive Parts Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, No. 2:12-md-02311. (Reporting by Brendan Pierson; Editing by Dan Grebler and Leslie Adler)