It’s been a tough year for Fiat Chrysler and the company is recalling 322,000 Dodge Chargers from the years mentioned above due to this problem, Consumerist reports. Plus, the company has faced increasing scrutiny and a $105 million fine from federal regulators due to its recall practices.
This is in lockstep with the company’s recall in July of more than one million Ram pickups in the U.S. that also had airbags could deploy with no warnings, Car and Driver reports. That’s according to filings with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
That recall covered Ram 1500, 2500, and 3500 pickups from the years 2013-2015, The Detroit News reports. Two minor injuries related to those vehicles were reported.
In May, Fiat Chrysler said it conducted a probe whether there were problems associated with the Dodge Challenger and Chrysler 300, but said the probe found those cars don’t need safety recalls because they have unique airbag calibrations.
The company says the defect is caused by on-door pressure sensors that are too sensitive, and recommends that drivers and passengers handle the affected vehicles carefully until the repair can be made, Car and Driver reports. Fiat Chrysler says three minor injuries and 25 complaints related to the defect have been reported, but fortunately there have been no crashes.
The current recall involves 284,000 Dodge Chargers in the U.S., 13,000 in Canada, 2,500 in Mexico, and an additional 22,000 outside North America. The company says the problem is quite rare, and impacts less than 0.01 percent of the total number of the cars being recalled, The Detroit News reports.
Consumerist reports that owners of the aforementioned vehicles will be notified by Fiat Chrysler. Local dealers will update the airbag system.
On July 27, Fiat Chrysler agreed to pay a $105 million penalty and implement a corrective action plan after a U.S. Department of Transportation investigation that examined how the company handled 23 different recalls to repair defects in more than 11 million cars and trucks, Automotive News reports.
The company also agreed to hire an independent monitor to preside over future recalls, and as part of the agreement with regulators, the company will buy back more than 500,000 vehicles — mostly Ram pickup trucks that apparently have defective suspension parts that could cause a loss of control, according to the NHTSA.