Toyota Settles with the NHTSA, to Pay $32.4M

In a year that could surely be recorded in the history books as the recall year for Toyota, the Japanese manufacturer announced today it had settled some of its older and newer recall cases, following an agreement signed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The settlement covers the timeliness of recalls conducted by Toyota in 2005 because of steering relay rods and from 2007 to early 2010 because of the now infamous pedal entrapment caused by floor mats.

The company agreed to pay, to be forgiven its transgression, exactly $32.425 million. Under the provisions of the US law, Toyota will pay the money without actually admitting blame or any other violation of its obligations under the US Safety Act.

“Toyota is pleased to have resolved these legacy issues related to the timeliness of prior recalls dating back to 2005. All 30,000 of our U.S. team members, and the tens of thousands of Americans at dealers and suppliers across the country, have worked very hard over the past year to put these issues behind us and set a new standard of responsiveness to our customers,” the manufacturer says in a statement attributed to Steve St. Angelo, the man who has been appointed earlier this year to the position of Chief Quality Officer for North America .

“These agreements are an opportunity to turn the page to an even more constructive relationship with NHTSA and focus even more on listening to our customers and meeting their high expectations for safe and reliable vehicles. As we have demonstrated in recent months, our North American operations now have a greater voice in making safety decisions, and we are taking appropriate action whenever any issues emerge."