FX.co ★ How do automakers pay for a car defect?

The American companies have to pay multimillion fines and compensation for car troubles as well as for hiding the machine flaws.

1. The largest auto manufacturer of the world – GM – will pay $935 million for the hidden weakness, that resulted in the death of 124 people. In February of the last year in USA, following an investigation of some crashes it emerged that the Chevrolet Cobalt and Chevrolet Saturn models could turn the ignition key while driving, shutting off the engine and switching off the airbags. The company's management was aware of the problem.

2. 34 million cars will be withdrawn due to a defect in the airbags. This withdrawal is considered the largest in the American history. The United States Department of Justice and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are conducting investigations against the Japanese company Takata, which supplied the GM, Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Mazda airbags. In case of accidents, these airbags can function with delay or can explode throwing out metal fragments.

3. Forensic experts are ready to impose a great fine not only to the Japanese Takata company. In USA the manufacturers using the company's components and covering up the information about their defects from regulators are also fined. For example, Honda faces a fine of $35 million.

4. In 2005, the American department of Bridgestone Corporation was imposed a fine of $240 million. The auto group claimed compensation from the tire manufacturer for the substandard Firestone tires, as defects of the tires, produced by Bridgestone up to 1998, can provoke serious accidents of Ford Explorer SUVs on which they are mounted. Public organizations and Ford argued that by 2000, in such car crashes 271 people were killed, and 800 were injured.

5. The Japanese Toyota Concern will pay the fine of $1.2 billion to the American authorities for hiding problems with the electric acceleration pedal of Toyota and Lexus automobiles. The United States Department of Justice convicted the concern of defrauding clients. Already in September 2009, the Toyota specialists discovered that some models could spontaneously speed up, but they hid the fact from customers.

6. Hyundai and Kia will pay $745 million for the incorrect data of fuel consumption. In November 2012, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found out that 13 models of the manufacturers, including Hyundai Elantra and Kia Soul, have the higher actual fuel consumption than indicated in the tests.