Japanese tire and rubber maker Bridgestone Corporation has agreed to plead guilty and to pay 425 million US dollars in criminal fines for its role in price-fixing conspiracies of rubber car parts, the US Department of Justice said Thursday.

The department said in a statement that Bridgestone engaged in a conspiracy of allocating sales, rigging bids, fixing and raising prices of automotive anti-vibration rubber parts sold to car manufacturers in the United States and elsewhere.

Anti-vibration rubber parts, comprised primarily of rubber and metal, are installed in suspension systems and engine mounts to reduce engine and road vibration.

According to a one-count felony charge filed in federal court in Toledo of the US state of Ohio, Bridgestone's role in the conspiracy to fix prices of anti-vibration rubber parts lasted from at least January 2001 until at least December 2008.

"Today's significant fine reaffirms the division's commitment to holding companies accountable for conduct that harms US consumers," said Brent Snyder, US Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division's criminal enforcement program.

Bridgestone has agreed to cooperate with the department's ongoing auto parts investigations and the plea agreement is subject to court approval, the department said.

Including Thursday's settlements, 26 companies and 28 individuals have been charged in the Justice Department's probe into price fixing and bid rigging in the auto parts industry. The companies have agreed to pay more than 2 billion dollars in criminal fines.