U.S. says GM in violation of its order to answer questions about recall

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Tuesday that General Motors had not met an April 3 deadline to respond to the agency's request for information about the automaker's recall of 2.6 million cars for defective ignition switches.

In a letter to GM, NHTSA said the automaker had not answered more than a third of the 107 questions the agency asked as part of its investigation into why the automaker waited until February to order a recall when it first learned of the defect more than 10 years ago.

NHTSA said GM faces a fine of $7,000 a day, starting from the April 3 deadline, until it fully responds to the questions.

(Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Sandra Maler)