GM agrees to $35M fine over ignition switch recall delay
 

Filed under: Government/Legal, Recalls, Safety, GM, Earnings/Financials

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General Motors has agreed to a $35-million fine levied by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration following its delayed reporting of the deadly ignition switch problem that has affected millions of the company's vehicles.

GM will be subject to what NHTSA called "unprecedented oversight" to prevent future lapses in recall reporting. The company admitted its failure to notify federal authorities of the safety problem in a timely manner in a consent form today, acknowledging that it broke the law. According to NHTSA, the consent form requires GM to provide the government regulator unfettered access to its internal investigation into the recall. It also sets a deadline for completing repairs - October 4 - and provides for future fines should GM not report additional recalls accordingly.

As part of this oversight process, GM has created what it's calling a Global Product Integrity unit and is "encouraging and empowering" employees to speak up when it comes to safety issues. Failure to report issues will lead to additional fines, says NHTSA.

"We have learned a great deal from this recall. We will now focus on the goal of becoming an industry leader in safety," said CEO Mary Barra in an official statement. "We will emerge from this situation a stronger company."

"Safety is our top priority, and today's announcement puts all manufacturers on notice that they will be held accountable if they fail to quickly report and address safety-related defects," said Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx. "No excuse, process, or organizational structure will be allowed to stand in the way of any company meeting their obligation to quickly find and fix safety issues in a vehicle," added interim NHTSA Administrator David Friedman in a statement.

Scroll down for the official press release from both General Motors and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.Continue reading GM agrees to $35M fine over ignition switch recall delay

GM agrees to $35M fine over ignition switch recall delay originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 16 May 2014 11:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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