The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Dec. 18 that Mercedes-Benz's U.S. division will pay $20 million as a settlement to resolve the agency's investigation into the automaker's vehicle recall practices.

In 2018, the NHTSA started its investigation into the Daimler AG-owned company's timeliness and adequacy in notifying and reporting vehicle safety defects to its owners.

The investigation covered over 101 safety-defect recalls between 2016 and 2018. In some of the recalls, Mercedes-Benz missed the 60-day deadline for notifying its customers and failed to upload the required documents.

The settlement includes an up-front payment of $13 million and an additional $7 million penalty, in case the company fails to satisfy the conditions.

The NHTSA also noted that the settlement addresses concerns regarding the operation and functionality of Mercedes-Benz's vehicle information number recall lookup tool that provides information on vehicle recall to consumers.