Mercedes-Benz and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have reached a settlement over the company’s recall reporting and recall execution practices.
According to the NHTSA, they opened an investigation into Mercedes-Benz USA and found the company had 101 recalls between 2016 and 2018.
During six of those recalls, customer notifications weren’t mailed out within the required 60 day time frame. In 22 of the recalls, documents weren’t uploaded to the “recalls portal” within five business days. In another 14 recalls, Mercedes listed the estimated launch date of the recall as unknown and then failed to update that information when it was available.
Also Read: U.S. Regulators Investigating Mercedes Over Recall Notice Practices
The settlement agreement mentioned other similar situations and potential issues with the company’s VIN lookup tool. However, the government acknowledged that “in all cases, consumers were notified of the recall, the recall campaign was launched as soon as parts became available, and there was no effort to mislead the agency with regard to any recalls.”
To settle the issue, Mercedes agreed to a settlement that requires the company to pay $13 (£9.9 / €11.7) million within 45 days. The automaker could also be on the hook for an additional $7 million (£5.3 / €6.3) if they don’t get their act together and “specified conditions are not satisfied.”
While the issues don’t appear to have been severe, NHTSA Acting Administrator James Owens commented on the issue: “Safety is NHTSA’s top priority, and the agency’s reporting requirements help ensure that consumers are protected and given important information about how to get recalls repaired.”
On their part, Mercedes-Benz USA told Auto News Europe: “We believe that we did not deliberately do anything wrong, but unfortunately we missed some deadlines in informing the agency of the measures we had taken in fulfilling their requirements.” The company went on to say they resolved the matter “in an effort to answer NHTSA’s questions and move forward.”
