Toyota Completes Oversight Tied to Fed Settlement
The automaker was subject to the scrutiny of an independent monitor as part of a deferred-prosecution agreement arising from the unintended-acceleration scandal.
Toyota Motor North America's headquarters in Plano, Texas. Photo courtesy of Toyota.
Toyota Motor North America's headquarters in Plano, Texas. Photo courtesy of Toyota.
Monday, Aug. 7, marked the end of Toyota’s three-year period of oversight by an independent monitor — a key requirement of the automaker’s $1.2 billion settlement with the federal government arising from allegations that the company misled the public about unintended acceleration problems in 2009 and 2010.
The U.S. Justice Department responded on Aug. 8 by filing a request in federal court to dismiss a criminal charge against Toyota, Reuters reported. This development likely signals an end to Toyota’s legal issues tied to the unintended-acceleration scandal and the resulting deferred-prosecution agreement with the federal government.
As part of the deferred-prosecution agreement made in 2014, Toyota admitted that it “misled U.S. consumers by concealing and making deceptive statements about two safety related issues affecting its vehicles, each of which caused a type of unintended acceleration.”
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