Fiat Chrysler Agrees to $105 Million Settlement with DOT

The fines eclipses the previous record fine of $70m imposed against Honda in January for failing to report death, injury and other claims.

Also, owners of more than a million older Jeeps with vulnerable rear-mounted gas tanks will be able to trade in their vehicles for more than market value or be paid to get them repaired, the agency said in a statement. Owners will also have the option of getting the vehicles repaired. NHTSA has in the past accused FCA of foot-dragging around several recalls, including one of over 1.5 million Jeeps linked to fires. They can rupture and spill gasoline, causing a fire.

Further, Fiat Chrysler has agreed to undergo an independent monitor’s audit of its recall performance over a three-year period. Many industry experts believe that it’s another step in NHTSA’s effort to right itself after being criticized for lapses in some highly publicized safety recalls over the last couple of years.

“Fiat Chrysler’s pattern of poor performance put millions of its customers and the driving public at risk”, Mr. Rosekind said in a statement.

A vehicle buyback occurs when a problem with the automobile is too serious to be remedied through the recall process, and the vehicles must be removed from the roads.

In a state where pickups rule the road, Fiat Chrysler’s buyback of hundreds of thousands of its top-seller, the Dodge Ram pickup, will nearly certainly hit home.

“This is a very good example of how not to do a recall”.

However, Ram owners don’t have to sell their trucks back if they don’t want to.

As Avie Schneider reported for our All Tech Considered blog, Fiat Chrysler said Friday it had already taken action to prevent such remote hacking, and was issuing the recall out of an “abundance of caution”.

FCA US has also agreed to undertake specific actions to improve its recall execution.

Fiat Chrysler had quite a few problems this past week.

The cars which are impacted the most include, “2008 through 2012 chassis cab, 2009 through 2011 light duty, and 2008 through 2012 heavy duty Ram Trucks” according to a Fiat press release.

Buybacks of just a portion of qualifying vehicles could cost Fiat Chrysler billions.

In addition to a $70 million cash penalty, the NHTSA is also fining Chrysler $20 million to address the recall issues, and warning that if the company doesn’t perform, it could face another $15 million in fines — bringing potential damages to $105 million. Some of the recalls date to 2011.