When a Japanese carmaker issued a tender for shock absorbers a few years ago for a model it planned to sell in Indonesia, two suppliers came back with bids that were ¡°so obviously coordinated,¡± said an executive at the automaker.
One supplier put in a slightly lower bid for front shock absorbers than its rival and a slightly higher bid for rear shocks, while its rival did the opposite.
The intent was clear, recalled the carmaker¡¯s former parts procurement chief for Indonesia who is now back in Japan and didn¡¯t want to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue: They were dividing the contracts between them.
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