General Motors will likely face a massive fine following a government inquiry into the ignition switch scandal that was uncovered last year and is now tied to more than 100 deaths.
According to sources with The New York Times Friday, the U.S. Justice Department inquiry into the issue is expected to find criminal wrongdoing on the part of GM. A settlement is being negotiated, according to the Times‘ sources, that’s likely to surpass the $1.2 billion figure Toyota was hit with when it was discovered to have not turned over information to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration over its cars with accelerator problems.
The ignition switch problem was exposed in 2014, when it was attributed to the Chevrolet Cobalt, sold from 2005 through 2010. Since then, numerous reports and investigations have revealed GM engineers may have known as early as 2001 – in the development process of the mechanically related 2003 Saturn Ion – the switch may fail at speed and prevent systems like power steering and brakes and airbags from working.
So far, at least 104 people are estimated to have died from accidents resulting the faulty switch. Roughly 2.6 million GM vehicles have been recalled over the switch, and millions more of the companies products have been recalled in the last year because of heightened scrutiny on potential defects. And as of last summer, GM was still working to find more than 100,000 owners of affected vehicles to get them repaired.
Some GM employees could also face criminal charges depending on the settlement. The Times also reported of investigators looking into the possibility GM committed fraud during its 2009 Chapter 11 reorganization by not admitting the defect.
A settlement is said to be due sometime this summer.
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