General Motors fined $35 million

Published 3:23 pm Saturday, May 17, 2014

WASHINGTON — Federal safety regulators slapped General Motors with a record $35 million fine Friday for taking more than a decade to disclose an ignition-switch defect in millions of cars that has been linked to at least 13 deaths.

Under an agreement with the Transportation Department, GM admitted it was slow to inform regulators, promised to report problems faster and submitted to more in-depth government oversight of its safety operations.

The fine was the maximum the department can impose.

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Safety advocates said the fine, which is less than a day’s revenue for GM, is too small to deter bad behavior by automakers.