Chrysler expands air-bag recall tally following NHTSA criticism
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV more than doubled its number of vehicles recalled to replace Takata Corp. air bags, a week after a U.S. regulator criticized the carmaker for failing to take more aggressive action.
Chrysler said it will replace front passenger-side Takata air-bag inflators in 357,933 vehicles, including some models of the Dodge Ram pickup truck and the Chrysler 300 sedan, in a Dec. 10 notice posted on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's website. The company had said Dec. 3 it would add only 149,150 older model Dodge Ram pickups to its recalls.
NHTSA Deputy Administrator David Friedman had criticized last week's action, saying it didn't meet the regulator's demands and failed to include all inflators covered by a Takata defect information report. The regulator has pressed the Japanese supplier and its customers to expand recalls following air-bag ruptures tied to four U.S. fatalities and the death of a pregnant woman and her unborn child in Malaysia.
"While this is the right move by Chrysler, it should never take an auto manufacturer this long to recall vehicles with a passenger side airbag that even Takata declared is defective," Friedman said in a statement after the expanded recall was disclosed. "NHTSA will review Chrysler's defect report and continue to put pressure on Chrysler to act more responsibly. I urge the company to quickly and completely notify affected owners of this expanded recall."
Chrysler will notify the additional customers in seven U.S. states and five territories beginning Feb. 8, according to an e- mailed statement. The Auburn Hills, Michigan-based company said it's unaware of injuries involving the air-bag inflators and has tested almost 600 of the devices without any failures.
Using Caution
"Chrysler Group has not identified an inflator defect in any of its vehicles," Eric Mayne, a spokesman for the company, said in the e-mailed statement. "However, the company is committed -- out of an abundance of caution -- to replacing these components in an estimated total of 617,573 older-model cars, trucks and SUVs."
The recall now includes front passenger air bags on 2004-2005 Ram pickup models that were not included in the Dec. 3 recall, as well as adding 2004-2005 Dodge Durango sport-utility vehicles, 2005 Dodge Dakota pickups, 2005 Chrysler 300 models and 2005 Dodge Magnums station wagons, according to the filing. The revised recall includes an additional design of Takata front passenger air bags that wasn't included Dec. 3.
Chrysler was among 10 automakers led by Toyota Motor Corp. that met Dec. 11 in the Detroit area to discuss hiring an industrywide, independent engineering firm for evaluation of Takata's air bag inflators. The automakers said in a joint statement that they completed an initial organizing meeting, putting them a step closer to hiring an outside investigator.
Honda Motor Co. this week said it would add about 2.8 million vehicles to a safety campaign in the U.S. that would expand nationwide after having been limited to high-humidity areas. The company had already called back more than 5 million cars in the country, the most among the 10 automakers.
Takata's other affected customers in the U.S. market are Nissan Motor Co., Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, Mazda Motor Corp., Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co., Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.'s Subaru and Mitsubishi Motors Corp.