Faulty Airbags in 900,000 Jeeps Force Recall

Chrysler Group LLC will recall 919,545 Jeep SUVs manufactured between 2001 and 2004 due to a faulty airbag control module that may cause the vehicles’ airbags to inflate while the car is being driven. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) ordered the recall today of 744,822 vehicles that are located in the U.S. The rest of the vehicles are located in primarily in Canada and Mexico, although more than 100,000 are outside North America.

The recall is scheduled to begin in January.

Chrysler, which is majority owned by Italy’s Fiat SpA, reported an 80% year-over-year profit increase in the company’s third quarter and an 18% revenue increase. The company is expected to gain U.S. market share this year, reaching 13% compared with 8.9% in 2011.

The NHTSA said that 215 cases of accidental triggering of the Jeep airbags were reported, and there were 81 minor injuries as a result. There were no crashes attributed to the faulty airbags.

Paul Ausick