The Toyota Motor Corp. has been hit with a fine against its finance unit for giving bribes to car dealers. Authorities in China were alerted to the accused bribes and subsequently decided to charge and fine the financing arm.

The company is denying the allegations; however, it could be a worthless exercise as the fine seems to be fairly watertight. Apparently, the bribes were given as rebates, which would encourage the dealers to push customers to use Car Loans from Toyota and not banks.

Jiang Zhugen, an official at the Jianggan Administration for Industry and Commerce said: "We sent the hearing notice on last Friday, and Toyota should have received it yesterday. The final penalty decision will be made after three working days if the company does not submit an application for another hearing."