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 In a letter to GM, NHTSA said the automaker had been fined $28,000
so far and would be subject to daily fines until it answers all 107
questions the agency asked in its investigation.
The agency is probing why the automaker waited until February to
order a recall despite first learning of the defect more than 10
years ago.
At least 13 deaths in Saturn Ions, Chevrolet Cobalts and other
models have been linked to the faulty ignition switches, which can
cause the engine to turn off suddenly, disabling the air bags and
making steering and braking more difficult.
GM said in a statement it had "fully cooperated" with NHTSA. The
automaker said it had sent more than 271,000 pages of documents to
the agency and would provide additional documents "as soon as they
become available."
The NHTSA said the automaker had not responded to over a third of
its questions by the April 3 deadline. The 17 pages of questions
were submitted to GM on March 4.
Many of the questions seek to track who in GM knew about the defect
and when. GM CEO Mary Barra, who testified last week to two
congressional panels investigating the recall, has said she did not
learn about faulty switch until January 31.
NHTSA said GM had informed the agency on March 20 it would not be
able to respond to all the technical engineering questions by the
deadline.
"NHTSA had no objection to GM taking additional time to respond to
technical engineering questions, with the understanding that GM
would fully respond to the remaining requests by the April 3
deadline. GM failed to do so," NHTSA Chief Counsel O. Kevin Vincent
said in the letter.
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NHTSA said GM had also told the agency it was not able to respond
fully because of an investigation into the recall by former federal
prosecutor Anton Valukas, who has been hired by GM to conduct an
internal probe.
Vincent said if GM did not fully respond to NHTSA's questions
"immediately and pay all civil penalties," the agency may refer the
matter to the Justice Department.
NHTSA has said GM's responses to the questions would be made public
once the agency's lawyers had a chance to review the documents and
redact any confidential information.
The U.S. agency itself is being investigated by the two
congressional panels and the Transportation Department's inspector
general for missing the defect.
(Reporting by Eric Beech; editing by Sandra Maler, Peter Cooney and
David Gregorio)
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