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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two executives at Japan's Denso Corp have agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to fix prices of electronic auto parts sold to Toyota and will cooperate with an ongoing criminal investigation, the U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday.
The settlement is the latest in a wide-ranging investigation into price fixing for a variety of car parts that has ensnared nine companies and elicited guilty pleas from 14 executives.
The Denso executives, Yuji Suzuki and Hiroshi Watanabe, both Japanese nationals, will serve time in U.S. prison and pay a criminal fine, the department said. Suzuki agreed to serve a 16-month sentence while Watanabe negotiated 15 months.
Denso itself pleaded guilty in the conspiracy and agreed to pay a $78 million fine last year.
The two men agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to fix the prices of heater control panels that regulate a car's temperature and were sold to Japan's Toyota Motor Corp and a U.S. subsidiary, the Justice Department said.
Suzuki also agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to fix the prices of electronic control units, which regulate power windows, power locks and other electrical systems.
In addition to the prison sentence, each man must also pay a fine of $20,000 and cooperate with the ongoing investigation.
The Justice Department's Antitrust Division has also settled with Autoliv , Tokai Rika Co Ltd , TRW Deutschland Holding GmbH, Nippon Seiki Col Ltd, Fujikura Ltd , Furukawa Electric Co Ltd , Yazaki Corp and G.S. Electech.
The European Commission has a parallel investigation under way.
(Reporting by David Ingram and Diane Bartz; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Leslie Gevirtz)
BERLIN (AP) — German software giant SAP AG says it plans to recruit hundreds of staff with autism to make full use of their talents to process information.
Autism is a developmental disorder characterized by difficulties in communicating, emotional detachment and rigid or repetitive behavior.
But some people with autism can perform complex mathematical tasks much better than the average population.
SAP says an estimated one percent of the world population has a form of autism and the company wants to reflect that in its 65,000-strong workforce, adding it sees a "potential competitive advantage to leveraging the unique talents of people with autism."
The jobs will include software testing, programming and quality assurance.
The Walldorf, Germany-based software maker is partnering with Danish organization Specialisterne, which helps people with autism work in technology jobs.
By Noel Randewich
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Intel Corp's new chief executive, Brian Krzanich, has reorganized key business groups and created a "new devices" unit, according to a source who has seen an internal email, shaking up the world's top chipmaker days after formally assuming control.
The chipmaker's main product groups - including the PC client group, mobile communications and data center unit that previously reported to Intel Architecture group chief Dadi Perlmutter - now report directly to Krzanich, the source said, citing the email sent to employees.
"As your CEO I am committed to making quick, informed decisions. I am committed to being bolder, moving faster, and accepting that this means changes will be made knowing that we will listen, learn and then make adjustments in order to keep pace with a rapidly changing industry," Krzanich said in the email, according to the source.
Krzanich, a 30-year Intel veteran, officially took over as CEO last week and said that under his leadership, the top chipmaker will be more responsive to customers in an intensified focus on the fast-growing smartphone and tablet market where it lags rivals.
President Renee James, formerly head of the software arm, will now also oversee the company's sprawling global manufacturing operations and take on additional parts of security efforts.
Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy confirmed Krzanich sent the internal email describing the chipmaker's reorganization. He said Intel presidents have traditionally been responsible for managing the manufacturing operations.
Mike Bell will head up Intel's newly formed "new devices" group," which Mulloy said will focus on emerging product trends.
Shares of Intel were up 0.6 percent at $24.23 in early afternoon on the Nasdaq.
(Editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Matthew Lewis)