VOA慢速英語:豐田汽車因隱瞞旗下汽車的安全隱患而遭罰款12億美元

This is the VOA Learning English Economics Report.

美國之音慢速英語，這里是經(jīng)濟報道。

Toyota Motor Corporation agreed to a record fine of $1.2 billion on March 19th. The fine brought to a close a United States criminal investigation into safety problems with some Toyota vehicles.

豐田汽車于3月19日同意其歷史最高記錄的罰款數(shù)額12億美元。這也意味著美國將停止對豐田安全問題的刑事偵查。

Toyota is the world's largest carmaker. The head of the Justice Department, Attorney General Eric Holder said the company will admit to misleading the public about two safety issues. The problems cause some vehicles to gain speed uncontrollably.

豐田是世界上最大的汽車生產(chǎn)商。司法部部長長埃里克.霍爾德承認(rèn)在兩個安全問題上誤導(dǎo)了大眾。這些問導(dǎo)致汽車出現(xiàn)加速失控。

"Today, we can say for certain that Toyota intentionally concealed information and misled the public about the safety issues behind these recalls," said Holder.

霍爾德表示“今天，我們可以很肯定的說豐田在召回事件背后的安全問題是故意隱瞞信息誤導(dǎo)大眾”。

The settlement ends a four-year investigation into how much information Toyota withheld from safety officials. The problems involved poorly made floor coverings and gas pedals that could become stuck in position. The affected vehicles could speed up unexpectedly as a result.

這次解決方案結(jié)束了為期四年關(guān)于豐田對安全官員隱瞞多少信息的調(diào)查取證。涉及的問題包括劣質(zhì)的地毯以及油門可能卡住。受影響的車輛可能會因此而意外加速

The company recalled about 10 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles. But it did not describe the full extent of the problems and said drivers were to blame. Attorney General Holder said Toyota agreed to have an independent group look at how the company deals with safety issues.

公司召回大約1000萬輛豐田和雷克薩斯。但是卻未公開問題的范圍并聲稱是司機自己的問題。埃里克.霍爾德表示豐田同意由一家獨立組織審查該公司如何處理安全問題。

"The company will submit to rigorous review by an independent monitor that will examine and assess the manner in which Toyota regularly reports safety issues to the public and its regulator," said Holder.

霍爾德說，“該公司將接受一家獨立監(jiān)督機構(gòu)的嚴(yán)格復(fù)審。該機構(gòu)將審查和評估豐田向公眾及監(jiān)管機構(gòu)定期報告安全問題的方式。”

Mr Holder said the fine was the largest criminal penalty against a car company in US history. He said the amount was right, because of Toyota's actions in the case.

霍爾德說，這筆罰款是美國歷史上針對一家汽車公司的最重刑罰。他說，因為豐田在這起案件上的行為，這一罰款數(shù)額非常合理。

Toyota owners have brought hundreds of private legal cases against the company in connection with the acceleration issue. Last year, the carmaker agreed to pay more than $1 billion to buyers who said their vehicles lost value after the announcement of the recall.

豐田車主就有關(guān)加速問題對該公司發(fā)起了數(shù)百起私人訴訟。去年，豐田同意向聲稱自己的車輛在召回信息公布后貶值的車主支付了10億美元。

Toyota released a statement saying it has made "major changes" to its operations to become a more "responsive" company.

豐田發(fā)表聲明稱，該公司在經(jīng)營上作出了重大改變，使得自己反應(yīng)更加迅速。

The world's second largest carmaker, General Motors is also under federal investigation. GM has recalled more than 1.5 million vehicles. Federal officials are investigating problems with the starting mechanisms in some GM models from 2003 to 2007. A number of deadly accidents have been linked to the problems.

全球第二大汽車制造商通用汽車也面臨聯(lián)邦調(diào)查。通用汽車已經(jīng)召回超過150萬輛汽車。聯(lián)邦官員正在調(diào)查2003年到2007年期間通用汽車某些車型啟動裝置的問題。一系列致命事故都和該問題有關(guān)。

And that is the VOA Learning English Economics Report. For more programs, English learning lessons and videos, go to our website chinavoa.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. I'm Mario Ritter.

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