Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced today that it will vastly expand its recall of older Dodge, Chrysler, and Mitsubishi vehicles to replace driver’s-side airbags manufactured by disgraced auto supplier Takata. The expanded recall affects an estimated 3.3 million vehicles built between 2004 and 2007, 2.9 million of which are in the U.S. See below for the full list of affected models.
In a statement, the automaker says that neither FCA US nor Takata has identified any defects in the airbags used in the newly recalled vehicles, despite conducting “more than 1,000 laboratory tests.” The Takata components used in the newly recalled FCA vehicles are a different design from those linked to injury or death caused by shrapnel shooting out of the airbag during deployment. The automaker reports one U.S. injury linked to an older Chrysler vehicle, which occurred in Florida.
But in the wake of the increasingly disastrous findings about potentially deadly Takata airbags, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has publicly criticized automakers for not extending their recalls nationwide, and the agency’s deputy chief David Friedman singled out Chrysler in a scathing criticism in early December. FCA US had previously conducted a small recall action limited to high-humidity regions of Florida, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.