Transport Canada said Tuesday that Hyundai Canada has pleaded guilty to six criminal charges related to delays in issuing recall notices.

In the eyes of Transport Canada, the manufacturer had violated the Motor Vehicle Safety Act by not respecting the prescribed 60-day deadline to issue a recall notice on campaigns launched in 2020 and 2021. All charges relate to exceeding this deadline .

“Some of these recalls focused on safety hazards related to vehicle fires, reduced braking performance and sudden loss of engine power,” Transport Canada said in a statement. Hyundai Canada will have to pay a fine of $360,000 for these charges.

“With Hyundai’s guilty plea and fine, Transport Canada now considers this matter closed,” it said. Federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, for his part, found it “alarming that Hyundai did not notify vehicle owners of a timely recall on six different occasions”, which he said justified the charges.

In a statement emailed to us, Hyundai Canada acknowledged that it did not always adhere to “specific timing requirements set forth in applicable regulations in a limited number of cases” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The manufacturer also wishes to recall that “all customers have been informed of the recalls and no safety incident has occurred related to this situation”.