AFP, NEW YORK: General Motors will pay $900 million to settle a criminal probe into its failure to recall cars with faulty ignitions linked to at least 124 deaths, US officials said Thursday. The largest US automaker was granted a deferred prosecution agreement to settle the probe into why GM took no action to recall millions of cars despite knowing about the defect for more than a decade. Prosecutors charged GM with concealing the defect from regulators at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and with wire fraud. The government agreed not to seek a conviction in exchange for the fine and the appointment of an independent monitor at the company. No individuals were charged Thursday.
"General Motors not only failed to disclose this deadly defect, but as the Department of Justice investigation shows, it actively concealed the truth from NHTSA and the public," said Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. "Today's announcement sends a message to manufacturers: Deception and delay are unacceptable, and the price for engaging in such behavior is high." GM chief executive Mary Barra apologized once again for the automaker's actions and insisted that the company has turned the "crisis into a catalyst for meaningful change." "People were hurt and people died in our cars," Barra told a meeting of GM employees. "Apologies and accountability won't count for much if we don't change our behavior. We can be proud that we have." Barra, who was tapped to lead the company in December 2013 shortly before the ignition-switch problems mushroomed into a massive scandal, initiated a major overhaul of how the automaker develops, tests and monitors the safety of its vehicles. She fired 15 employees deemed responsible for failing to fix the defect and worked to change the corporate culture at GM to encourage all employees to report safety concerns before they become problems.