Toyota Wil Pay Record $16.4 Million Dollar Fine
Toyota will pay a record $16.4 million fine because of its perceived “slow” response to one of the first issued the automotive giant faced: sticking gas pedals. The fins, which is the largest amount allowed to be levied against the car manufacturer under the law will not prohibit the hundreds, if not thousands of private civil suits that have been, and will be, filed around the world. In the United States alone Toyota faces an quickly increasing number of private lawsuits, which have been combined before a federal judge in Santa Ana, California.
``In the court of public opinion, paying the fine speaks volumes. But at the end of the day, the fines are simply background noise in terms of the civil litigation,'' Richard Arsenault, a plaintiff's attorney in Alexandria, Louisiana, said Monday. ``What's really important are the facts that were the catalyst for the fines.''
Perhaps because of what has happened to the Toyota brand, the company has moved much more quickly to address problems with its luxury division, Lexus. The manufacturer is set to recall all 9,400 of the 2010 Lexus GX 460s that went on sale in late December - 5,600 that have been sold and 3,800 still at dealers around the county. The Lexus recall came shortly after Consumer Reports issued an unfavorable report on the redesigned SUV.
