NHTSA Fines FCA $105 Million, Warns Other Automakers

Anthony Foxx, the U.S. Transportation Secretary announced July 26 that FCA violated the Motor Vehicle Safety Act’s requirements to repair vehicles with safety defects. As a result of this transgression, the DOT announced in a press release that FCA, “will submit to rigorous federal oversight, buy back some defective vehicles from owners, and agreed to a $105 million civil penalty, the largest ever imposed by the Department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.”

This penalty comes on the heels of FCA being in the news for the hacking of their Jeep Cherokee by Wired Magazine and their reactionary announcement to recall 1.4 million vehicles.

The latest revelation that FCA will now have to shell out $105 million in fines comes after NHTSA held a hearing July 2 to examine how the automaker had handled 23 recalls. The government decided FCA handled them poorly, thus they are having them pay over a hundred million dollars to let them and other automakers know safety recalls are serious. Speaking about the action to fine FC3A, US DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a statement, “Today’s action holds Fiat Chrysler accountable for its past failures, pushes them to get unsafe vehicles repaired or off the roads and takes concrete steps to keep Americans safer going forward. This civil penalty puts manufacturers on notice that the Department will act when they do not take their obligations to repair safety defects seriously.” The NHTSA reported that FCA has admitted to lacking “effective and timely recall remedies, notification to vehicle owners and dealers and notifications to NHTSA.”

The NHTSA issued a consent order to FCA in which very serious accusations were launched. Among those accusations were that over 500,000 FCA vehicles have faulty suspensions that could cause the vehicle to lose control and crash. Those who own an FCA vehicle like that will have the opportunity to sell it back to the automaker. By the same token the NHTSA has pushed FCA to allow Jeep owners who have Jeeps that are prone to fire can trade them in for above market value or have a financial incentive to get their vehicle fixed.