General Motors will pay a $35 million dollar fine and comply with a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) consent order for “failing to report in a timely manner the ignition-switch defect.”
According to NHTSA’s consent order, GM will make “significant and wide-ranging internal changes” in the handling of future safety defects. As part of the deal, GM acknowledged that it broke the federal law with its handling of the recall, and is required to notify NHTSA of changes to its schedule for completing production of repair parts by October 4.
The agreement also requires GM to maximize the number of customers who take their vehicles to a dealership for repair by reaching out to non-English speakers, keeping information on its website updated, and distributing information to owners through the media. According to a report in Automotive News , the relatively paltry $35 million fine represents the maximum levy allowable for the infraction.
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We’ve been closely following GM’s recent recall woes since details began emerging in February, and GM’s own internal documents indicate the maker first encountered the issue in 2001, and reviewed it again in 2004 and 2005 without initiating changes, violating federal law requiring automakers to notify regulators within five days after determining a vehicle contains a safety-related defect. In a statement released this morning, GM CEO Mary Barra said, “We have learned a great deal from this recall. We will now focus on the goal of becoming an industry leader in safety. We will emerge from this situation a stronger company.” At this time, the ignition-switch recall covers the 2005–2010 Chevrolet Cobalt, 2007–2010 Pontiac G5, 2003–2007 Saturn Ion, 2006–2011 Chevrolet HHR, 2006–2010 Pontiac Solstice, and 2007–2010 Saturn Sky vehicles.
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