Feds probe Fiat Chrysler recalls
NHTSA says carmaker’s fixes slow, inadequate
Federal regulators on Monday said a public hearing July 2 to investigate whether Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has failed to properly carry out 20 recalls involving about 10 million vehicles.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Administrator Mark Rosekind said FCA has low recall completion rates, inadequate fixes and a lack of timely notification for owners.
“Our actions are broader than one recall,” he said. “We need to determine whether there is a pattern here.”
FCA said in a statement that its completion rate for recalls “exceeds the industry average, and all FCA US campaigns are conducted in consultation with NHTSA.” It says its completion rate on active recalls is 77% vs. an industry average of 70%.
Rosekind said the hearing will be broad and that the agency can recommend that Fiat Chrysler buy back or replace vehicles, which has happened in at least one case before. The hearing will have testimony and allow both sides to present evidence.
Fiat Chrysler and NHTSA have been feuding about recalls since last year. In November, CEO Sergio Marchionne disputed NHTSA’s contention that FCA had a “woeful” recall repair rate on a recall of 1.56 million Jeep Liberty and Grand Cherokee SUVs with gas tanks mounted in a way that they can catch fire when struck from the rear. The fix involves adding a trailer hitch. At the time, Fiat Chrysler said it had a 13.2% repair rate on Liberty and 3.5% on Grand Cherokee.
Now, the recall is up to only 21% recall repair rate, Rosekind said, although in a media call he couldn’t offer comparisons to an industry average.
On Monday, Rosekind said the issues go beyond that recall and are not based on one incident. “When you look the pattern,” he said, action had to be taken.
“It is not enough to identify defects. Manufacturers have to fix them,” Rosekind said. “Significant questions have been raised as to whether this company is meeting its obligations to protect the drivers from safety defects, and today we are launching a process to ensure that those obligations are met.”