Toyota is getting the first honours of the biggest civil fine ever to be issued to any automaker.
They will be fined $16.4 million for all the jazz going on with recalls, and that’s a steal of a deal for Toyota. Why? Because there is a cap on civil fines. $16.4 million is the absolute maximum civil fine allowed. The Detroit News is reporting that if that cap did not exist, Toyota would have been fined $6,000 per vehicle. That would have resulted in $13 billion in fines!
The kicker is, Toyota isn’t even accepting any responsibility for all the hoopla they’ve caused. The deal was that they pay the fine, but officially they wouldn’t accept any responsibility of wrongdoing even though there have been reports that Toyota knew of sticking gas pedals since 2005. Toyota does admit that they could have done a better job in communicating relevant new information, however. Um, yeah probably.
All we have to say is we doubt that a $16.4 million fine is of much comfort to the families of those killed in faulty Toyotas, and saying you did nothing wrong is almost like slapping them in the face.
Toyota still isn’t off the hook as the U.S House of Representatives plan on holding another hearing on May 6th. With all everything surrounding the Lexus GX 460 and still lingering issues of faulty gas pedals, Toyota could still face more fines in the near future.