DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. will pay a fine of up to $165 million to the U.S. government for moving a recall too slowly and failing to provide accurate recall information.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Thursday the civil penalty was the second largest in its 54-year history. Only the fine paid by Takata for faulty airbag inflators was higher.

The agency said Ford was too slow to recall vehicles with faulty rearview cameras and failed to provide the agency with complete information as required by federal vehicle safety law automobiles.

Ford agreed to a consent order with the agency that includes a $65 million payment and $45 million in expenses to comply with the law. An additional $55 million will be carried forward.

“Timely and accurate recalls are essential to keeping everyone safe on our roadways,” said NHTSA Deputy Administrator Sophie Shulman. “When manufacturers fail to prioritize the safety of the American public and comply with their obligations under federal law, NHTSA will hold them accountable.”

Under the order, an independent third party will oversee the automaker’s recall obligations for at least three years, and Ford must cooperate with the monitor.

Ford must also review all recalls over the past three years to ensure enough vehicles have been recalled and file new recalls if necessary.

The company also needs to review and change its recall decision-making process, improving how it analyzes data to detect safety defects in its vehicles. It also needs to invest in technology to be able to trace parts using vehicle identification numbers.

Ford says it will invest the $45 million in advanced data analytics, a new document system and a new testing laboratory.

“We appreciate the opportunity to resolve this issue with NHTSA and remain committed to continually improving safety,” Ford said in a statement.

Under the law, an automaker must notify NHTSA by filing a defect report within five business days after discovering that a vehicle line has a safety defect.

The problematic recall of more than 620,000 vehicles in the United States, including more than 700,000 in North America, occurred in September 2020 due to backup cameras that may fail on several 2020 models, including the Pick -up F Series, the best-selling vehicle in the United States.

In agency documents, NHTSA said Ford found warranty claims about defective cameras from February to April 2020, and that the matter was brought before a Ford committee in May of the same year.

In July 2020, NHTSA contacted Ford about complaints it had received regarding faulty cameras, and during an August 2020 meeting with NHTSA, Ford showed data for many 2020 models with rates of high camera failure.

The company conducted the recall on September 23, 2020, and about a year later, NHTSA began investigating whether the recall was done quickly enough or included enough vehicles.

In 2022 and 2024, Ford issued two more recalls for the same problem, adding approximately 24,000 vehicles to the first camera recall.

In the consent order, NHTSA said its investigation found that Ford violated several parts of the law by acting too slowly to recall vehicles with defective cameras, providing the agency with inaccurate or incomplete information and by failing to submit required quarterly reports on additional recalls.

The order stated that Ford disagreed with his assertions.

For several years, high warranty and recall costs have eaten into Ford’s profits, but the company says it is working to resolve the problems.

The sanction does not end the conflicts between Ford and the NHTSA.

Earlier this year, the agency opened an investigation into a recall-related repair of a Ford SUV that did not repair gasoline leaks that could cause engine fires. Investigators wrote in an April 25 letter to Ford that they had “significant safety concerns” regarding the March 8 recall of nearly 43,000 Bronco Sport and Escape SUVs.

Ford said in documents that fuel injectors can crack, allowing gas or steam to escape near hot engine parts, potentially causing fires and injuries. But the solution is to add a drain tube to direct gas away from hot surfaces and software that cuts off the fuel supply if it detects a leak.

In the letter, the agency’s Office of Defect Investigation wrote that, based on its review of the recall fix, it “believes that the repair program does not address the root cause of the problem and does not proactively call for replacement of faulty fuel injectors before.” to their failure.

Ford said it has a robust recall process and is committed to complying with the law, but it can always improve. He said he learned lessons from the camera recall.

“We look forward to working with NHTSA and the independent third party to implement further improvements,” Ford said.