Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' Ferrari sports car brand has been fined $3.5 million for not filing "early warning reports" indicating safety issues with U.S. safety regulators, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Friday.
Ferrari has been required since 2011 to file quarterly early warning reports, because that was the year that Fiat began selling cars in the U.S. market. Before then, Ferrari as a small-volume manufacturer did not have to file the reports.
Ferrari admitted that it violated the law when it failed to submit required reports to NHTSA, a part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, over a three-year period, and failed to report three fatal incidents, NHTSA said in a statement.
"There is no excuse for failing to follow laws created to keep drivers safe, and our aggressive enforcement action today underscores the point that all automakers will be held accountable if they fail to do their part in our mission to keep Americans safe on the road," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx in the statement.
FCA on Wednesday announced that it will spin off Ferrari and list the shares as part of a larger plan to fund the parent company's five-year expansion project.
Ferrari sold just over 2,000 of its hand-built luxury sports cars in the U.S. market in 2013.
