Holder sent a warning to the auto industry: "Other car companies should not repeat Toyota's mistake: A recall may damage a company's reputation, but deceiving your customers makes that damage far more lasting," he said, declining to confirm that the government has already opened an investigation into General Motors Co. over its recall of vehicles for ignitions switch defects. NHTSA �ordered GM to make significant and wide-ranging internal changes to its review of safety-related issues in the United States, and to improve its ability to take into account the possible consequences of potential safety-related defects.� 
 
 The government said the agreement holds GM accountable and will �push the automaker to make needed institutional change, and ensure that replacement parts are produced quickly and recalled vehicles are repaired promptly.� 
 
 �No excuse, process or organizational structure will be allowed to stand in the way of any company meeting their obligation to quickly find and fix safety issues in a vehicle,� Friedman said. What GM did was break the law.� 
 
 Foxx said the fine should "put all automakers on notice" that there is zero tolerance for failing to recall vehicles in a timely fashion. Related: GM Recalls Bring 2014 Total to Record 11.2 Million in May 
 
 “General Motors’ decision making, structure and process stood in the way of safety at a time when air bags were failing to work properly in millions of GM products,” NHTSA Acting Administrator David Friedman said today in Washington. �The Center for Auto Safety calls on the Justice Department to impose a billion dollar plus fine on GM and bring individual criminal prosecutions against the responsible GM officials,� said Clarence Ditlow, the center�s executive director. “The only thing that was left to be decided was when they were going to impose the penalty.” 
 
 ‘Stronger Company’ 
 
 GM confirmed in an e-mailed statement that it had reached an agreement with NHTSA and said it has begun working with the agency to review processes and policies to avoid future recalls of this nature. "We will now focus on the goal of becoming an industry leader in safety,� GM CEO Mary Barra said in statement Friday. We will emerge from this situation a stronger company.” 
 
 GM has said heavy key rings or jarring can cause ignition switches on some cars to slip out of the “on” position, cutting off power and deactivating air bags. Consent Order 
 
 The consent order that GM agreed to laid out a list of things the company must do from submitting a written list each month of every vehicle-safety issue under consideration to monthly meetings with the agency for a year. Record Fine 
 
 The $35 million fine is the largest ever paid by an automaker in the U.S. for delays in issuing a safety recall. Ford paid NHTSA a $17.35 million fine after the agency said the automaker did not notify customers of a defect in a timely manner after it recalled 423,000 2001-04 Ford Escapes and Mazda Tributes in July 2012, the maximum fine at the time. �It�s critical to the safety of the driving public that manufacturers promptly report and remedy safety-related defects that have the potential to lead to deaths or injuries on our nation�s highways.� 
 
 Foxx said the $35 million was a �rounding error� for GM and emphasized that the Obama administration wants Congress to hike maximum fines to up to $300 million. He said the company should have been fined �many multiples� of $35 million. The company has created a new Global Product Integrity unit, a new employee Speak Up for Safety Initiative in which employees are encouraged to voice safety concerns and is seeking stronger requirements for its engineers. She’s also asked for a review by lawyer Kenneth Feinberg, who determined compensation for survivors of the Sept. 11 and Boston Marathon terrorist attacks, to make recommendations on what GM should do for victims of the crashes. The agreement follows yesterday’s announcement by GM of five new recalls totaling 2.7 million in the U.S. that increases the total number of vehicles called back for fixes this year so far to a record of 11.2 million. GM has called back more vehicles in the United States this year than all other major automakers combined � and more than it did in the last six years.
– The US government is fining General Motors $35 million for delays in recalling small cars with faulty ignition switches. The government also says that GM will report safety issues faster in the future. The fine is the maximum allowed by law and a record at that, the Detroit News reports, but it's only a fraction (a hair under 1%) of the $3.8 billion GM made last year. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also ordered GM to implement "significant and wide-ranging internal changes to its review of safety-related issues." The government boasted that the fine "puts all manufacturers on notice that they will be held accountable" if they fail to report defects—as GM allegedly did for at least a decade. Automakers are required to report safety defects within five days of discovering them. GM's stock rose slightly on the announcement, Bloomberg reports. The fine is the highest ever because the max fine has increased since Toyota and Ford were each fined $17.4 million in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Regulators have asked Congress to drastically increase the cap to $300 million.