Fiat Chrysler hid car crash deaths, fed agency says

Unclear whether the under- reporting is tied to previous recalls

Revelation comes after automaker agrees to pay fines over recalls.

The scope of Fiat Chrysler’s failure to handle recalls efficiently deepened Tuesday as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration accused the automaker of widely under- reporting the number of deaths in accidents involving its vehicles.

The revelation of the discrepancy — which NHTSA administrator Mark Rosekind called “significant” — comes about two months after the automaker agreed to pay fines of up to $ 105 million for its failure to report recalls quickly and fix vehicles effectively.

Rosekind on Tuesday pledged in a statement to “take appropriate action after gathering additional information on the scope and causes of this failure,” signaling that additional fines are possible.

The federal agency had promised to punish Fiat Chrysler further if it discovered more problems in its recall processes during the course of its investigation.

Rosekind said NHTSA notified Fiat Chrysler of the “apparent discrepancy” in late July, after which the automaker investigated the matter and discovered “significant under- reported notices and claims of deaths, injuries and other information” the company is legally required to report. Fiat Chrysler said in a statement that it “promptly notified NHTSA of these issues and committed to a thorough investigation” after discovering the problems in the summer. It pledged “complete remediation.”

Fiat Chrysler agreed in July to pay up to $ 105 million for failures spanning 23 separate recalls and more than 11 million vehicles, including primarily Ram trucks and Dodge SUVs made between 2008 and 2012. It was not immediately clear whether the under- reporting of deaths is connected to those recalls or other incidents.

JERRY S. MENDOZA Fiat Chrysler Automobiles was notifiied of the discrepancy in July, the NHTSA says.