Toyota has agreed to pay a maximum $16.375 million (£10.69m) fine to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for failing to inform the US department for almost four months about a sticking accelerator fault in some of its cars.
However, the firm has denied any wrongdoing and said it "did not try to hide a defect to avoid dealing with a safety problem”. Toyota said it was agreeing to pay the fine to “avoid a protracted dispute and possible litigation” and hoped that by paying the fine, it could begin “a new, more transparent chapter" with the NHTSA.
US transportation secretary Ray LaHood said, “By failing to report known safety problems as it is required to do under the law, Toyota put consumers at risk.
“I am pleased that Toyota has accepted responsibility for violating its legal obligations to report any defects promptly. We are continuing to investigate whether the company has lived up to all its disclosure obligations."
The fine was the maximum allowed by US law. The Detroit News has claimed that if the $16.375m cap didn’t exist, the NHTSA could have charged Toyota up to $6000 (£3900) per vehicle recalled, which would have meant a $13.8 billion (£9.013bn) fine.
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Re: Toyota pays £10m fine to US
We need to scotch that sort of general cliche.
Their is a difference between owners who like driving, and owners who don't yet want a car that is reliable, offers good mpg, and doesn't cripple them with service charges. Toyota have that philosophy almost down to a fine craft. Buyers of new Toyotas, in the main, are looking for peace of mind, as are those who buy Asian built cars with five or seven year warranties.
In other words, such owners do care, only they are less obsessed with status and vehicle presence than those who buy premium brands or or the badge snobbery.
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Re: Toyota pays £10m fine to US
Very clever , the US Government can't afford to bail-out GM on their own so they are raiding Toyotas' piggy bank.
Re: Toyota pays £10m fine to US
The point is they can still trade on the back of their reliability, they are extremely reliable even last year and this year, i expect owner surveys to agree with me. It's only a perceived myth in America that there is actually any problem, created by the government and the media, and the public lol.
Toyota are being very nice and considerate to still value the American market, but i'm sure the Japanese culture of politeness and commitment will reach an abuse too far and something in relations will break. To me it's extremely racist and almost pre war cold shouldering by America.