A Wilson Sonsini team recently obtained a full dismissal with prejudice on behalf of Continental Aktiengesellschaft and Continental Tire the Americas, LLC of alleged price-fixing claims on replacement tires. 

Beginning in January 2024, dozens of plaintiffs filed lawsuits around the country alleging that tire manufacturers Bridgestone, Continental, Goodyear, Michelin, Nokian, and Pirelli conspired to fix the prices of replacement tires in the United States from 2020 until the present. In the summer of 2024, the cases were consolidated into a multidistrict litigation (In re: Passenger Vehicle Replacement Tires Antitrust Litig., MDL No. 3107) before Chief Judge Sara Lioi of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. 

In February 2025, after significant briefing and oral argument, the court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss the entirety of the three consolidated complaints from the putative classes—direct purchaser plaintiffs, auto dealer plaintiffs, and end payor plaintiffs. The plaintiffs sought leave to amend.

On March 31, 2026, the court denied with prejudice the plaintiffs’ motions for leave to amend their three complaints in a detailed 88-page opinion. The court was unpersuaded by any of the plaintiffs’ “new” allegations. The plaintiffs failed to nudge the conspiracy allegations toward plausibility—still describing parallel conduct that is “not only consistent with, but indeed more likely explained by, lawful, independent action.”  

In the end, the plaintiffs “twice failed” to meet the pleading standard—warranting dismissal with prejudice and resolving all cases in the MDL in favor of the defendants. 

The Wilson Sonsini team that represented Continental in the matter included Brent Snyder, Jeff Bank, Jeff VanHooreweghe, Mikaela Evans-Aziz, Alexandra Keck, Rohena Rajbhandari, and Anthony Geritano.