Ford to pay up to $165M for not acting fast enough on rearview camera recall

Ford Motor Co. will be forced to pay the second largest civil penalty by an automaker after the federal government said the company did not act fast enough to issue a recall over faulty rearview cameras.

The Associated Press reported that Ford will have to pay up to $165 million to the government. The Takata air bag inflator penalty was the largest, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said.

In addition to being too slow to recall the vehicles that had faulty cameras, it also did not provide complete information to the agency, the NHTSA said.

The breakdown of the payments is: $65 million payment to the government, $45 million to comply with the Motor Vehicle Safety Act and will invest in advanced data analytics and a new testing lab. Another $55 million will be deferred.

A third party will also oversee Ford’s recall obligations for at least the next three years, the AP reported.

The consent order is for three years but all or part can be extended for a fourth, the NHTSA said.

Ford will also have to look at all recalls from the past three years and if they are not complete, refile them, and will have to review the company’s overall recall process.

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