Toyota agreed to pay US$ 32.4 million in federal fines (one of $16.375M and another of $16M) after failing to comply with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The automaker delayed recalling nearly 6 million vehicles suspected of www and faulty steering rods.
These two fines represent the maximum penalty allowed by the law at the time when the problems were first discovered.
The larger fine comes after a February 2010 probe highlighting how Toyota failed to contact the regulatory body within five days of discovering the faulty throttles in various Toyota and Lexus models.
The other fine against the Japanese auto giant results from a separate investigation that proved information about defective steering rods was not relayed to the NHTSA.
In 2004, some Hilux trucks in Japan were recalled for the same problem but Toyota denied that it could have consequences on U.S. vehicles and therefore did not issue a recall. The company finally backtracked a year later and recalled about one million units.
"We have worked very hard over the past year to put these issues behind us,'' said Steve St. Angelo, Toyota's chief quality officer for North America. ''These agreements are an opportunity to turn the page to an even more constructive relationship with NHTSA and to put more emphasis on listening to our customers in order to meet their high expectations with regard to safe, reliable automobiles."
Source: The Detroit News
These two fines represent the maximum penalty allowed by the law at the time when the problems were first discovered.
The larger fine comes after a February 2010 probe highlighting how Toyota failed to contact the regulatory body within five days of discovering the faulty throttles in various Toyota and Lexus models.
The other fine against the Japanese auto giant results from a separate investigation that proved information about defective steering rods was not relayed to the NHTSA.
In 2004, some Hilux trucks in Japan were recalled for the same problem but Toyota denied that it could have consequences on U.S. vehicles and therefore did not issue a recall. The company finally backtracked a year later and recalled about one million units.
"We have worked very hard over the past year to put these issues behind us,'' said Steve St. Angelo, Toyota's chief quality officer for North America. ''These agreements are an opportunity to turn the page to an even more constructive relationship with NHTSA and to put more emphasis on listening to our customers in order to meet their high expectations with regard to safe, reliable automobiles."
Source: The Detroit News