General Motors was fined $35 million by federal safety regulators on Friday for taking more than a decade to disclose an ignition-switch defect in millions of cars that has been linked to at least 13 deaths, according to the Associated Press.
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced the fine, which is the maximum the agency can impose, with the company also weighing whether and how to broadly compensate victims, the AP reported. Other investigations into the automaker's handling of the recall are being conducted by the federal government.
The consumer group Center for Auto Safety called the $35 million fine a "slap on the wrist to a hundred billion dollar corporation," calling on the Justice Department to impose a fine of at least $1 billion on GM, according to the AP.
"What we cannot tolerate, what we will never accept, is a person or a company who knows danger exists and says nothing," Foxx said, according to the AP. "What GM did was break the law ... They failed to meet their public safety obligations."
The faulty ignition switches on Chevrolet Cobalts, Saturn Ions and other GM vehicles can cause their engines to stall, which in turn prevents air bags from deploying during crashes, according to the AP. The power steering and power brakes do not operate when the ignition switch unexpectedly moves from the "on" position to the "accessory" position.
The ignition-switch defect was first noticed by the automaker more than a decade ago and has been linked to at least 13 fatalities, but recalls only began in February of this year, despite years of consumer complaints, the AP reported.
Congress, the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as several states are conducting their own investigations, with GM's internal probe expected to be completed within the next two weeks, according to the AP.
