Consortiums offering vehicles fitted with phone (7)

I believe the answer is:

cartels

'consortiums' is the definition.
(cartel is a kind of consortium)

'vehicles fitted with phone' is the wordplay.
'vehicles' becomes 'cars' (car is a kind of vehicle).
'fitted with' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'phone' becomes 'tel'.
'cars' enclosing 'tel' is 'CARTELS'.

'offering' acts as a link.

(Another definition for cartels that I've seen is " Consortiums formed to limit competition".)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

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