Hyundai pleaded guilty to six separate criminal charges

Automaker Hyundai pleaded guilty to six counts of violating the Motor Vehicle Safety Act and faces a $360,000 fine.

The six charges relate to safety defect notices that Hyundai allegedly failed to send within 60 days, as required by law, according to a statement released by Transport Canada on Tuesday.

However, the company sent reminders in 2020 and 2021, albeit not on time.

“Hyundai failed to notify vehicle owners of the recall in a timely manner on six separate occasions, which is why Transport Canada has brought criminal charges against the company,” said federal Minister of Transport Omar Algabra.

“With Hyundai’s conviction and fine, Transport Canada now considers this matter resolved. The department will continue to closely monitor Hyundai’s compliance with Transport Canada’s requirements.

Hyundai Canada responded by saying customer safety comes first, contacting all customers affected by the recalls and confirming that no accidents have occurred.

“During the COVID-19 pandemic, Hyundai Canada recognized that the company did not always meet the specific time requirements set out in the applicable regulations in a limited number of cases. However, we immediately corrected the situation and took responsibility,” the company said.

Catherine Proulx of Transport Canada Communications said the late recall notices that led to the charges were for the Veracruz, Santa Fe, Sonata, Veloster, Kona EV, Nexo, Tucson, Elantra and Elantra GT models.