Yesterday, BMW of North America announced it has entered into a Consent Order with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) which resolves issues raised in NHTSA’s Special Order issued to BMW NA on September 28, 2015 in regards to its execution of a MINI noncompliance recall campaign.
The U.S. auto-safety regulators imposed a penalty of up to $40 million. According to USA Today, BMW agreed to the penalty which involves an immediate $10 million fine, $10 million in spending to overhaul procedures and $20 million in deferred fines if the company fails to make changes. The Consent Order also includes an admission by BMW NA that it did not comply in a timely fashion with various reporting requirements under the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act.
BMW NA has also agreed to execute certain performance obligations to improve its recall execution and reporting processes and will work with a consultant to develop best practices to do so.
BMW said in a statement that it “is committed to further improving its recall processes to better serve its customers” and that it “respects the role of NHTSA and looks forward to working with them to develop solutions for the future.”
