Fiat Chrysler announced on Friday that it is recalling more than 1.1 million automobiles globally due to rolling away problems after drivers exit the vehicles. The car maker admitted that it was forced to recall these cars and SUVs after at least 41 drivers have been injured on account of the said malfunction.
These drivers of Fiat Chrysler vehicles thought that they have already put their cars in park mode before exiting, not knowing that this feature was not properly functioning.
The recall order affects the 2012 to 2014 Chrysler 300 sedans and Dodge Charger and the 2014 to 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV. In the United States, about 811,000 vehicles will be recalled, while in Canada, around 52,000 automobiles need to be returned.
Downwards in Mexico, almost 17,000 cars will be returned and outside of North America, a total of around 250,000 will be recalled.
Investigations were simultaneously performed by Fiat Chrysler and the U.S. government. Both found that the electronic gear shifters installed in the vehicles were confusing which might have caused drivers to believe that the vehicles were already in parked mode, when in fact they weren't.
All owners of the affected cars will be notified by the seventh largest automaker in the world, and FCA dealers will make the necessary adjustments to the vehicles' transmission so that they will remain stationary once the driver has exited the car. Enhanced warning signals will also be added to the car's safety system.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration stated on Friday that its "investigation of the shifter in these vehicles showed it is clearly a safety issue that has led to hundreds of crashes and dozens of injuries."
On its part, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles promised that it will update its vehicles so that they will be automatically prevented from moving under certain circumstances.
