Toyota to pay record US fine, announces Lexus recalls

WASHINGTON — The US government warned Monday that it was not done investigating Toyota after the Japanese automaker announced more recalls and agreed to pay a record 16.4-million-dollar fine."By failing to report known safety problems as it is required to do under the law, Toyota put consumers at risk," US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement."I am pleased that Toyota has accepted responsibility for violating its legal obligations to report any defects promptly."Toyota failed to disclose a "sticky pedal" defect for at least four months despite knowing the potential risk to consumers, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said.Under federal law, automakers are required to disclose defects within five business days.Meanwhile Monday the company also announced a formal recall of nearly 20,000 affected Lexus GX 460 sport utility vehicles in the United States, Canada and Europe after a US consumer magazine warned of a rollover danger.Toyota said in a statement that it "denies NHTSA's allegation that it violated the Safety Act or its implementing regulations" and regrets that the agency chose to levy a fine."We believe we made a good faith effort to investigate this condition and develop an appropriate counter-measure," the world's largest automaker said in a statement."We have acknowledged that we could have done a better job of sharing relevant information within our global operations and outside the company, but we did not try to hide a defect to avoid dealing with a safety problem."Toyota said it agreed to pay the fine "in order to avoid a protracted dispute and possible litigation, as well as to allow us to move forward fully-focused on the steps to strengthen our quality assurance operations."It is the largest civil fine against an automaker ever sought by US authorities and relates to defects that affected 2.3 million vehicles recalled in the United States in January.A lawyer representing Toyota owners seeking compensation for a loss in resale value in a massive cla

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