Toyota Motor Corporation has agreed to pay a record $16.4m fine to US safety regulators for delaying a massive recall over defective accelerator pedals, the regulator said today.
'By failing to report known safety problems as it is required to do under the law, Toyota put consumers at risk,' Transportation Department Secretary Ray LaHood said.
'I am pleased that Toyota has accepted responsibility for violating its legal obligations to report any defects promptly,' LaHood said.
The regulator continues to review Toyota's statements and over 120,000 pages of Toyota documents to determine whether the world's largest car maker has complied with all its disclosure obligations, LaHood said.
The $16.4m civil penalty against Toyota is the maximum allowed by US law and the largest that the US Department of Transportation had ever sought.
Toyota has recalled around 2.3 million cars in the US for the pedal defect. Worldwide it has recalled more than eight million cars over several problems, including the sticking accelerator pedal which caused cars to speed out of control.
Toyota had until today to agree to pay the fine, or contest it. If the two parties had not agreed a settlement, the matter could have gone to court.
The sudden acceleration problem allegedly caused by the pedal defects has been blamed for more than 50 deaths in the US, and Toyota faces a slew of legal challenges in US courts.
The car maker has been hit with at least 97 lawsuits seeking damages for injury or death linked to sudden acceleration and 138 class action lawsuits from customers suing to recoup losses in the resale value of Toyota vehicles.
In March, the US government announced a series of investigations into the causes of 'unintended acceleration' in Toyota and other brands of cars, calling in NASA engineers to help.
The US Department of Transportation plans to buy cars that are suspected of unintended acceleration and subject them to a battery of tests.
The NHTSA is itself under fire for allegedly failing to adequately review consumer complaints about Toyota and other cars, but it is the beleaguered Japanese carmaker that remains in the spotlight for now.
Toyota overtook General Motors in 2008 as the world's top car maker. But the safety issues that have recently bedeviled it have raised questions about whether it sacrificed its legendary quality to become number one.
Toyota executives were hauled over the coals in the US Congress earlier this year and the company's previously stellar reputation for safety was left in tatters.
The latest blow to the company's reputation came just last week. Toyota suspended production and global sales of the Lexus GX 460 sport utility vehicle after US magazine Consumer Reports gave the SUV a rare 'Don't Buy: Safety Risk' rating.
