Hyundai ordered to pay $US240m in damages

Hyundai has been ordered to pay millions of dollars in damages for a manufacturing defect that led to fatal crash in 2011.

Hyundai has been ordered to pay $A259.67 million in damages over a defect that led to a fatal crash. (AAP)

A US jury has ordered Hyundai to pay $US240 million ($A259.67 million) in punitive damages after finding that a manufacturing defect in a Hyundai vehicle caused a crash that killed two cousins in July 2011.

Jurors in Montana on Tuesday awarded actual damages of $US1 million to each parent and $US500,000 to each sibling of 19-year-old Trevor Olson and 14-year-old Tanner Olson, who died in the head-on crash. Jurors also ruled Trevor Olson's estate should receive $US2.6 million for lost earnings.

It's unclear if the punitive damages will stand. Montana has a $US10 million cap on such damages, but that's being challenged after a District Court judge in Butte ruled it wasn't high enough to deter future wrongdoing by wealthy companies.

A Hyundai spokesman said on Wednesday he would contact the company's legal department before commenting.