US authorities have imposed a record fine of $US16 million on Toyota for holding back information about faulty accelerator pads in its vehicles.
The US Transport Department says the car maker did not notify it soon enough about the faults, which led to the recall of more than 2 million vehicles.
The US National Highways Traffic Safety Administration says documents provided by Toyota show that the company knew about the defect in September, but did not recall the cars until January.
Toyota has two weeks to appeal the fine.
Regulators are still examining whether Toyota committed other violations.
