Toyota accepted record $16.4 million fine

Toyota Motor Corp. agreed Monday to pay a record $16.4 million fine for failing to properly notify federal authorities about
a dangerous accelerator pedal defect. The auto company said it had agreed to settle the civil penalty but denied the government's
allegation that it violated the law.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, announcing the largest-ever penalty paid by an automaker to the U.S. government, said
that "by failing to report known safety problems as it is required to do under the law, Toyota put consumers at risk."

"I am pleased that Toyota has accepted responsibility for violating its legal obligations to report any defects promptly,"
LaHood said, noting that the U.S. government was continuing to investigate "whether the company has lived up to all its
disclosure obligations."

Toyota said it agreed to the penalty "to avoid a protracted dispute and possible litigation" but denied the government's
allegation that it violated the law.

"We believe we made a good faith effort to investigate this condition and develop an appropriate countermeasure. 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.

The penalty is connected to a January recall of 2.3 million vehicles with sticking accelerator pedals. The government says
Toyota knew about the problem in late September and failed to report the potential safety defect within five business days,
as required by law.

The fine does not free Toyota from potential civil and criminal penalties. The Japanese auto company still faces dozens of
personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits in federal courts and federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission
are conducting investigations related to the recalls.

From the government's viewpoint, the agreement to pay the full fine constituted an acceptance of responsibility for hiding
the safety defect in violation of the law.

Toyota announced it would recall 2.3 million vehicles in January to address sticking pedals on popular vehicles such as the
Camry and Corolla. The Japanese automaker has recalled more than 8 million vehicles worldwide because of acceleration problems
in multiple models and braking issues in the Prius hybrid.

The fine was based upon timelines provided by Toyota that showed it had known about the sticky pedal defect at least since
Sept. 29, 2009, when it issued repair procedures to distributors in 31 European countries to address complaints of sticking
pedals, sudden increases in engine RPM and unexpected vehicle acceleration.

The documents also indicated that Toyota knew that owners in the U.S. had experienced the same problems.

The Japanese automaker has been weighing its options since the fine was announced in early April but analysts expected it
to pay the penalty.

"When you look at the toll it's taken on Toyota's reputation, when you look at the number of vehicles involved,
when you look at the hardship it's placed on Toyota's customer base, it's only right for Toyota to take this fine,"
said Dennis Virag, president of Automotive Consulting Group based in Ann Arbor, Mich.

The penalty is the largest the government can assess under law. Without the cap, government lawyers said Toyota could have
faced fines of $13.8 billion, or $6,000 for each of 2.3 million vehicles that were sold with defective pedals.

Transportation officials have not ruled out additional fines. The department is reviewing whether Toyota delayed for six
weeks the late January recall of the 2009-2010 Venza in the United States to address floor mats that could entrap the accelerator
pedal after making a similar recall in Canada.

Toyota recalled the Venza in Canada in December and reported to the U.S. government on Dec. 16 that the floor mats could
move forward and interfere with the pedal. Toyota told U.S. authorities at the time that the floor mats in question were not
imported into the U.S. but the Venza was added to the floor mat recall in late January.