The hefty fine is yet another sign of NHTSA's more aggressive era of regulating automakers. In 2014, NHTSA issued more than $126 million in civil penalties -- the highest annual total in the agency's 43-year history.
“Accurate, early-warning reporting is a legal requirement, and it’s also part of a manufacturer’s obligation to protect the safety of the traveling public,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “We need FCA and other automakers to move toward a stronger, more proactive safety culture, and when they fall short, we will continue to exercise our enforcement authority to set them on the right path.”
In a statement, FCA acknowledged that it can improve its response to NHTSA requests, but added that it failed to report certain incidents due to coding problems in its early warning reporting system that failed to recognize when reportable information was received or updated.
"FCA US accepts these penalties and is revising its processes to ensure regulatory compliance," the statement read. "However, FCA US is confident that it identified and addressed all issues that arose during the relevant time period, using alternate data sources."