Will Your Customers Demand Answers To Vehicle Hacking Questions?

According to several reports, FCA knew about the vulnerability of their infotainment system 18 months ago. This news, first reported by Bloomberg sheds more light on a situation of growing interest for an automaker that can’t stop making headlines. It’s only been two weeks since Wired magazine released a video showing how the UConnect infotainment system in certain FCA vehicles can be vulnerable, so vulnerable in fact that it’s potentially susceptible to hackers.

The video showed a 2014 Jeep Cherokee being hacked, manipulated and lightly crashed. The automaker reacted with what they called a precautionary recall of 1.4 million vehicles. Just after the Wired magazine hacking, the automaker announced, “The Company is unaware of any injuries related to software exploitation, nor is it aware of any related complaints, warranty claims or accidents – independent of the media demonstration…No defect has been found. FCA US is conducting this campaign out of an abundance of caution.”

However, the NHTSA isn’t so sure. The government agency discovered FCA knew of potential infotainment fallibilities 18 months ago. The NHTSA doesn’t have a hunch; they conducted a large investigation, fined FCA $105 million and forced them to take action. FCA told Bloomberg in an email that the full scope of vulnerability of their vehicles is news to them. Fiat Chrysler spokesman Eric Mayne told Bloomberg in a statement, “Prior to last month, the precise means of the demonstrated manipulation was not known. (FCA) opposes irresponsible disclosure of explicit ‘how-to’ information that could help criminals gain unauthorized access to vehicle systems.”

With all the headlines being generated by the Jeep hacking and other auto cyber attack stories, consumer interest is certainly peaked. It’s possible car shoppers will have a lot of questions about the potential negatives of having a vehicle that’s connected to both the Internet and a consumer’s personal cellphone. The question of safety and privacy is bound to come up.

If FCA knew their infotainment systems were potentially vulnerable, should they have acted sooner on their recall? It took a hacking demonstration and government investigation for their infotainment USB recall to occur. This and the subject of cyber automotive security might concern consumers when they come into your store, when they ask, what are you going to say?