In April 2010, Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) agreed to pay a whopping US$16.4 million fine imposed on it by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration2 (NHTSA) in the US. The fine related to sticky accelerator pedal defects in its vehicles, which resulted in the company recalling approximately 2.3 million vehicles in the US in late January 2010. According to industry observers, the fine was the largest civil penalty ever levied on an automaker by the NHTSA.
Regulators said that Toyota had been penalized as it had failed to notify the NHTSA for at least four months after learning about the problems in its vehicles.