General Motors agrees to pay $900 million to end the United States government probe on how it handled defective ignition switches killing 124 people, in addition to signing a deferred prosecution agreement.
The agreement states GM will receive criminal charges for hiding the potentially fatal defect from automotive industry regulators and failing to disclose the defect to customers. The case is on hold until General Motors fulfills the terms of the deal, when the case will be dismissed.
Sources reveal to Reuters that no individuals will be included in the criminal case charges. The amount was confirmed to be lower than Toyota's $1.2 billion settlement for the resolution of the similar case previously.
Some points on General Motors' deal, struck with the United States government, has not been disclosed; such as how many counts the company will be charged with, if General Motors will be hiring an independent monitor, and the deadline for compliance before the case against it is dropped. It is also unclear whether GM will take additional charges in exchange for the criminal probe settlement.
"I am very hopeful the Department of Justice will hold GM fully accountable and presses for an acknowledgement of responsibility as well as monetary penalties," says Democratic Senator of Connecticut Richard Blumenthal.
General Motors, the top automobile manufacturer in the United States, suffers charges summing up to $4.2 billion since last year, including costs related to vehicles and the compensation fund that is presented for defective ignition switches' incident victims.
The settlement pushes high-profile safety crises near its end after such incidents tarnishing the recovery from the bankruptcy of General Motors, leading to a flunk on reputation and coffers of the company.
The faulty ignition switches have been the subject of investigations since March 2014 due to ignition switches' engines stalling and preventing safety features such as airbags from properly deploying during a car crash.
General Motors recalled over 26 million vehicles last year as it cracked down on potential safety issues in its vehicles, according to the record.
