Official Release: BMW of North America, LLC (BMW NA) today announced it has entered into a Consent Order with the National Highway Traffic Safety...The post MINIUSA and the NHSTA Agree on MINI Noncompliance Recall appeared first on MotoringFile. (visit MotoringFile for the full article) More...
Sooo.... $40 million is on the line at BMW.... At $35K each, that represents 1,142 MINI's being sold.... Is NHSTA showing their teeth or gums? Might force BMW to drop the lobster petit fours at the New England regatta and go with the quahogs on a toothpick...
You just have to laugh at MF's attempt at positive spin with the title of their post (Hooray! It's an agreement!). Here is how some of the slightly (significantly?) more objective media called it: BMW hit with $40 Million penalty for safety lapses - Fortune NHTSA fines BMW for not reporting Mini recall - Detroit Free Press BMW to pay $40M for failing to recall Mini Coopers in a timely manner - Consumerist US regulators slap BMW with $40 Million fine for Mini safety violations - The Daily Tribune BMW fined $40 million for Mini Cooper Safety Violations - Consumer Affairs (Not to be outdone in the laugh-out-loud spin category, BMWBLOG decided to go with this - "BMW of North America reaches resolution with NHTSA on MINI recall")
All of it. The recall mobs that spread misinformation for one. BMW/MINI for trying to skirt the issue for two. Sales are down, there's no advertising, pricing is uncompetitive for the feature count... and this hitting the news just kicks us when we're down.
from the Detroit Free Press article - the fine is really only $10 million, another $10 go to some company or person who can tell them how to report their safety issues, and the rest comes due should they screw that one up or do this again. I think it's time to get into the auto recall reporting consulting business.