Supreme Court Rules for Volvo in Arkansas Case

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he U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday reversed an antitrust ruling against Volvo’s U.S. truck unit that could lead to the overturning of a $4.1 million verdict against the manufacturer, the Associated Press reported.

The 7-2 ruling also rejected a broader reading of federal antitrust laws contained in a lower court decision in the Volvo case that would have made it easier to bring anticompetitive lawsuits against manufacturing wholesalers, AP said.

The case had involved Volvo's appeal of a $4 million award to an Arkansas truck dealer, Reeder-Simco GMC of Fort Smith, Ark.

Volvo had contended that a federal appeals court had expanded the scope of the 1936 Robinson-Patman Act, enacted to protect small retailers from the purchasing power of larger concerns. (Click here for previous coverage.)

The appeal dealt with the wholesale pricing strategies of the Volvo truck unit's pricing policies with the retailer, which had sued Volvo in 2000 as Volvo prepared to terminate a franchise agreement.

Reeder-Simco alleged Volvo Trucks violated federal price discrimination laws by not extending to it the same dealer concessions it gave to other truck retailers, AP said.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, writing the majority opinion, said the federal antitrust law does not cover Reeder's complaint, AP reported.