As expected earlier this week, the US Department of Justice has now confirmed a US$1.2bn settlement with Toyota that ends a four-year criminal probe over accusations that it misled authorities over unintended acceleration in Toyota cars and subsequent recalls.
The US$1.2bn fine is part of a deal with the US Department of Justice that imposes one of the heaviest ever penalties on a carmaker.
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The DoJ probe covered the timeline of Toyota’s ‘floor mat entrapment’ and ‘sticky pedal’ issues and the company’s response to claims of unintended acceleration.
The DoJ said that at the time Toyota was assuring the public that the “root cause” of unintended acceleration had been “addressed” by the 2009 eight-model floor-mat entrapment recall, the company was hiding from NHTSA a second cause of unintended acceleration in its vehicles: the sticky pedal.
“Rather than promptly disclosing and correcting safety issues about which they were aware, Toyota made misleading public statements to consumers and gave inaccurate facts to Members of Congress,” said Attorney General Eric Holder.
“When car owners get behind the wheel, they have a right to expect that their vehicle is safe. If any part of the automobile turns out to have safety issues, the car company has a duty to be upfront about them, to fix them quickly, and to immediately tell the truth about the problem and its scope. Toyota violated that basic compact. Other car companies should not repeat Toyota’s mistake: a recall may damage a company’s reputation, but deceiving your customers makes that damage far more lasting.”
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By GlobalDataToyota stressed that it has now taken actions to ‘become more responsive’ and has redirected efforts to regaining the trust of customers.
“At the time of these recalls, we took full responsibility for any concerns our actions may have caused customers, and we rededicated ourselves to earning their trust,” said Christopher P. Reynolds, chief legal officer, Toyota Motor North America. “In the more than four years since these recalls, we have gone back to basics at Toyota to put our customers first.”
Reynolds continued: “We have made fundamental changes across our global operations to become a more responsive company – listening better to our customers’ needs and proactively taking action to serve them.
“Specifically, we have taken a number of steps that have enabled us to enhance quality control, respond more quickly to customer concerns, strengthen regional autonomy and speed decision-making. And, we’re committed to continued improvement in everything we do to keep building trust in our company, our people and our products. Importantly, Toyota addressed the sticky pedal and floor mat entrapment issues with effective and durable solutions, and we stand behind the safety and quality of our vehicles.
“Entering this agreement, while difficult, is a major step toward putting this unfortunate chapter behind us. We remain extremely grateful to our customers who have continued to stand by Toyota. Moving forward, they can be confident that we continue to take our responsibilities to them seriously,” Reynolds said.
Click the ‘press release’ button below to read the full US Department of Justice statement.
