Toyota has agreed to fork over $16.4 million to pay a fine, the largest government sanction against an automaker ever, for hiding information regarding its sudden-acceleration recall, federal officials said Monday. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/20/business/global/20toyota.html?hpw
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced the news about Toyota, which has not admitted any wrongdoing. But the automaker merely paying the fine levied by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration doesn’t clear Toyota if any civil or criminal actions, according to The New York Times.
The $16.4 million fine is the largest permitted under the law.
Toyota released its own statement Monday. http://pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/toyota-motor-corporation-agrees-157093.aspx
“We agreed to this settlement in order to avoid a protracted dispute and possible litigation, as well as to allow us to move forward fully-focused on the steps to strengthen our quality assurance operations,” the automaker said.
“This will allow us to focus on delivering safe, reliable, high quality vehicles for our customers and responding to consumer feedback with honesty and integrity,” the statement said. “These have been core Toyota values for 70 years, and we pledge to make an even greater effort to adhere to this philosophy now and in the future. We also welcome a new, more transparent chapter in our relationship with NHTSA, consistent with our commitments to Congress and the American people.”
In a case of we-think-he-doeth-protest-too-much, Toyota went on.
”We regret that NHTSA tentatively concluded that they should seek a civil penalty. Toyota denies NHTSA’s allegation that it violated the Safety Act or its implementing regulations,” Toyota said in its statement.
“We believe we made a good faith effort to investigate this condition and develop an appropriate counter-measure. We have acknowledged that we could have done a better job of sharing relevant information within our global operations and outside the company, but we did not try to hide a defect to avoid dealing with a safety problem.
Both the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating Toyota over the sudden-acceleration recall
Toyota knew about the acceleration problem and defective gas pedals for several months before ordering a recall in January.
Toyota’s problems seem endless. Last Friday the company halted sales of its Lexus GX 460 after Consumer Reports magazine deemed the vehicle unsafe.
And the automaker Friday said it would recall 600,000 Sienna minivans regarding a problem with a cable that holds a spare tire.
Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
http://waiting.com :: http://vestibulardisorder.com :: http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney
