Ford Motor Co. has been charged with a $17.35 million fine by the U.S. federal safety regulators for not recalling its Escape SUVs on time last year.
Ford Motors, renowned American automobile manufacturer, recalled nearly half a million Escape sport-utility vehicles, which had defective gas pedals causing unintentional acceleration, in July last year. The recall was done after the National Highway Traffic Safety Agency launched a preliminary investigation.
The investigation concluded that Ford was aware of the accelerator pedal fault in its models since May 2011 but did not reveal the information to the customers or the government. This violated a federal law resulting in the car maker having to sign a heavy settlement June 28, 2013, according to Wall Street Journal.
Ford agreed to pay a fine of $17.35 million rather than face a long-drawn possible litigation. The issue resulted in one death and nine injuries.
"We are absolutely committed to addressing potential vehicle issues and responding quickly for our customers," Ford said in a statement. "We take the safety of our customers seriously and continuously evaluate our processes for improvements. While we are confident in our current processes for quickly identifying and addressing potential vehicle issues, Ford agreed to this settlement to avoid a lengthy dispute with the government."
Ford is not the only car making company to attract such a fine. In fact other brands like Toyota, BMW and Volvo were also charged for delays. Toyota was fined the same $17.35 million penalty last year.
Chrysler and the NHTSA also had a brief disagreement with the recall of more than 2.7 million Jeep Cherokee and Grand Cherokee for a fire risk. The Michigan-based car maker initially claimed that its models had met all safety standards and were safe but later it agreed to recall and repair the vehicles.
