Justice Department Probing 4 Japanese Motorcycle Firms : Grand Jury Case Is Shifted From Los Angeles to Ohio

The four Japanese motorcycle makers that dominate the U.S. market are under federal criminal antitrust investigation to determine whether they fixed prices or illegally allocated markets in the early 1980s, Justice Department officials acknowledged Tuesday.

The investigation, under way since 1984, has been transferred from a grand jury in Los Angeles to one in Columbus, Ohio, making it easier for Washington-based department attorneys to conduct the case, the officials said.

U.S. operations of the Japanese companies under scrutiny are American Honda Motor Co. of Gardena; Kawasaki Motors Corp. U.S.A. of Irvine; Yamaha Motors Corp. of Cypress, and U.S. Suzuki Motor Corp. of Brea, the Justice Department said.

Mark Sheehan, a department spokesman, said the grand jury is looking into pricing and marketing practices in the industry but declined to provide other details. The four Japanese concerns reportedly account for 94% of the estimated $2.7 billion-a-year retail motorcycle market in the United States.

Cooperation Pledged

The grand jury investigation was initiated after President Reagan’s April 1, 1983, decision to sharply raise tariffs on Japanese-made heavy motorcycles to give Harley-Davidson Motor Co. time to modernize its production facilities to meet the Japanese competition.

Attorneys for Suzuki and Honda said they were cooperating fully with the Justice Department in responding to subpoenas from the grand jury for documents and witnesses.

Jim Short, an attorney with Lyon & Lyon in Los Angeles representing Honda, said he would not characterize the grand jury investigation as “fishing” but stressed that the current investigation is a “continuation” of the Los Angeles investigation.

That grand jury, Short said, “didn’t have enough evidence to take action against anybody after a year of investigating. Of course, it’s our position that there’s no evidence there to take action on, and we think the Columbus grand jury will agree when they conclude their investigation.”

A lawyer for Suzuki said: “Suzuki is confident it has done nothing wrong and will be vindicated when it’s all over.” Representatives of Yamaha and Kawasaki had no comment.