This isn't an "insane fine" or a "relatively small problem."
These things are dangerous and they had to know that they were dangerous when they shipped them. They deserve to get financially nuked for being so ridiculously irresponsible. Companies that put profits ahead of consumer safety shouldn't be allowed to have profits.
There's "they should've known, but it seems they didn't", which is bad engineering and should be punished somewhat.
On the other hand, this seems to be "they knew about it and went ahead anyway" a la Boeing 737 MAX, which is many, many levels above and it should be the equivalent to a financial nuke, IMHO. Recoverable, but something that is talked about in the company for the next 15 years.
Dare I say, if there's provably a person who was presented with this as a problem and overrode the decision so as not to delay the problem, there should be criminal liability for them?
Yes, there should be, in addition to financial penalties. Unfortunately, what is considered to be a "fair" punishment for a corporation rarely ever reaches the level of criminal prosecution and never forces the corporation to change its operating strategy. In an ideal world, corporations would be punished financially, criminally, and be forced to reorganize whenever they attempt to wipe obvious dangers under the rug for profit's sake.
This isn't an "insane fine" or a "relatively small problem."
These things are dangerous and they had to know that they were dangerous when they shipped them. They deserve to get financially nuked for being so ridiculously irresponsible. Companies that put profits ahead of consumer safety shouldn't be allowed to have profits.