Honda Motor Co., Ltd. is a Japanese public multinational corporation known for manufacturing of automobiles, motorcycles and power equipment. (Photo : Reuters)
Honda is facing a $70 million fine by regulators from the United States due to the Japanese carmaker's failure to report death and injury figures to proper authorities, according to transportation officials on Thursday.
The fine is currently the largest the U.S. government levied against a car manufacturer, BBC reported.
Honda in November revealed that it failed to report over 1,700 cases involving injuries and even deaths starting from July 2003 up to June 2014.
A small percentage of those incidents involved air bags from Takata Corp. The said safety feature ruptured and was the basis for several huge recalls and investigations from the authorities.
The Tokyo-based multinational corporation has agreed to pay two $35 million, the maximum amount allowed under the U.S. law, in fines, one for its failure to respond to its customers warranty claims and another for the failure to report.
Honda said that its failure to report stemmed from computer programing and data entry errors. In an effort to improve, the firm is trying out new employee training routines and changing its policy on internal reporting.
The investigation was done by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. Honda violated the NHTSA's Early Warning Reporting regulation, which requires automakers to report on potential defects, injuries, deaths, damage and warranty claims from their consumers.
Anthony Foxx, the U.S. Transportation Secretary, told MSN that they "cannot tolerate" a carmaker for its failure to report safety issues as it can end up jeopardizing the efforts "to protect the public."
