Owners in some recalls have waited up to 18 months for replacement parts says NHTSA. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (NYSE:FCAU) had managed to post close to 278 more retail deliveries in comparison to the second placed DEARBORN, Michigan headquartered auto pioneer.
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After NHTSA officials presented evidence at a hearing at the Department of Transportation, NHTSA administrator Mark Rosekind told reporters that he will take action against the automaker – possibly as soon as this month.
There are a few ways this could go. The automaker sent a delegation to Washington June 17 that included Scott Kunselman, senior VP for vehicle safety and regulatory compliance, to discuss the company’s changes.
The automaker could face fines of $35 million in each of the recalls if NHTSA determines it failed to meet legal requirements.
The sustained scrutiny over Fiat Chrysler’s handling of vehicle safety comes at a delicate time for the auto maker, as Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne seeks a merger partner in part to help defray looming costs for technology and emissions compliance. “Some of the things we’ve done were sloppy”.
One option for NHTSA is a consent agreement in which Fiat Chrysler agrees to improve its recall process and submit to additional government oversight.
Fiat Chrysler projected total industry sales in the U.S.to be a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 17.5 million units for June.
Yon said Fiat Chrysler waited for months before selecting a supplier to produce trailer hitch assemblies after it had agreed in 2013 to recall 1.56 million SUVs for gas tank fire risks. Four of the five misses were four days or less, but one was 12 days late, the company has said. Still, Ford said that average transaction prices are up $3,600 over previous year for its best-selling vehicle, and it’s turning twice as fast on dealer lots than the industry average for half-ton pickups. It also says it has worked hard to reach owners of recalled vehicles. Some of the Jeeps are 22 years old, and it’s hard to find owners through state registration databases because addresses may not exist, the company said.
Todd Anderson of Connecticut, who lost his 17-year-old son when the family’s 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee was rear-ended and exploded in flames, asked the agency to order Fiat Chrysler to buy back the recalled Jeeps to get them off the road.
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The automaker issued a lengthy statement hours before the hearing, underscoring the role that regulators have played in testing the remedy and determining that it provides an incremental safety hitch for vehicles in low-to-moderate-speed collisions.
