Toyota has agreed to pay a $16.4m fine, the biggest ever imposed on a carmaker, for failing to notify US authorities promptly about defective accelerator pedals in more than 2m of its vehicles.

　　豐田汽車(Toyota)已同意就未能迅速知會美國監(jiān)管當(dāng)局其200多萬輛汽車存在油門踏板問題而支付1640萬美元罰款。這一罰金是有史以來針對汽車制造商的最高額罰款。

　　The world's biggest carmaker said yesterday that it would pay the fine “to avoid a protracted dispute and possible litigation.”

　　全球最大汽車制造商昨日表示，公司將支付罰款，“以避免曠日持久的糾紛和可能的訴訟”。

　　However, it denied that it had violated the US Safety Act or government vehicle-safety regulations. “We have acknowledged that we could have done a better job of sharing relevant information within our global operations and outside the company,” Toyota said. But “we did not try to hide a defect to avoid dealing with a safety problem”.

　　但該公司否認(rèn)違反了美國機(jī)動車安全法或政府相關(guān)條例。“我們承認(rèn)，我們本可以更好地在全球業(yè)務(wù)內(nèi)部乃至公司以外共享相關(guān)信息，”豐田表示。但“我們并未試圖為了避免應(yīng)付安全問題而隱瞞缺陷”。

　　Battered by a series of damaging recalls, Congressional investigations and scores of lawsuits, the company pledged “to make an even greater effort” to deliver reliable vehicles and respond to consumer feedback “with honesty and integrity”.

　　在一系列有損聲譽(yù)的召回、美國國會調(diào)查和多起法律訴訟的圍攻下，豐田誓言“加倍努力”生產(chǎn)可靠的汽車，并“誠實、誠信地”對待消費者反饋。

　　Ray LaHood, US transportation secretary, expressed satisfaction that Toyota “has accepted responsibility for violating its legal obligations to report any defects promptly”. But Mr LaHood said that the government was continuing to investigate whether Toyota had breached its obligations to disclose other safety defects. He said that investigators were reviewing Toyota statements and more than 120,000 pages of company documents.

　　美國運輸部長雷•拉胡德(Ray LaHood)對此表示滿意，稱豐田“已接受責(zé)任，承認(rèn)違反了迅速報告任何產(chǎn)品缺陷的法律義務(wù)”。但拉胡德表示，美國政府將繼續(xù)調(diào)查豐田是否還違反了披露其它安全缺陷的義務(wù)。他表示，調(diào)查人員正在審查豐田的聲明和逾12萬頁的公司文件。

　　The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration imposed the fine, the heaviest allowed by law, on the grounds that Toyota delayed recalls of 2.3m vehicles by almost four months after becoming aware of the sticky accelerator problem. In the wake of Toyota's run-in with NHTSA, two Congressional committees are drafting new car safety legislation that is likely to include stiffer penalties for delays in disclosing safety defects.

　　美國國家高速公路交通安全管理局(NHTSA)開出的這份罰單金額是法律允許的上限，依據(jù)是豐田在意識到棘手的踏板問題后，推遲了近四個月才宣布召回230萬輛汽車。在豐田與NHTSA發(fā)生爭執(zhí)后，兩個國會委員會正起草新的汽車安全法規(guī)，可能會對拖延披露安全缺陷給予更嚴(yán)厲的處罰。