Mercedes to pay up to $20mn for recall lapses

Bloomberg

Daimler AG’s Mercedes Benz has agreed to pay as much as $20 million in penalties for violations of how it operated its vehicle recall programme.
Mercedes Benz’s US arm must pay $13 million immediately while the remainder is deferred in case there are additional violations. The penalty was announced by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The company had issues with timeliness and adequacy of notifications to car owners with vehicle safety defects, NHTSA said in a news release.
“These laws are critical to ensure NHTSA’s ability to provide oversight, and we expect manufacturers to follow their legal obligations to the agency and to consumers in carrying out safety recalls,” NHTSA said.