Hyundai Ordered to Pay $73 Million Punitive Award in Crash Deaths

A district judge in Montana has ruled that Hyundai Motor Co.must pay $73 million in punitive damages because it failed to act on knowledge of a steering system defect.

Judge Deborah Christopher also upheld an additional $8.1 million award of actual damages in the case.

The families of two teenagers sued Hyundai in 2011 after their sons were killed in the crash of a 2005 Hyundai Tiburon. They blame a defective steering knuckle. Hyundai says the crash was precipitated by fireworks exploding inside the car.

Christopher rejected the carmaker's request to further reduce the original $240 million punitive award. She also declared that Montana's cap on such damage awards is unconstitutional. She chastised Hyundai for failing to remedy steering knuckle problems evidenced by a decade of warranty claims.

Hyundai tells Bloomberg News it will appeal the ruling. The original judgment is the largest ever against Hyundai, according to Bloomberg.