Fiat Chrysler Automobile (FCA) has issued a recall involving 1.1 million units of Fiat and Chrysler models worldwide due to the problematic shifter used on cars with eight-speed automatic transmissions.
The issue is that the console-mounted shifter acts like a rocker switch and always returns to the middle position after moved. This has been deemed confusing to drivers – confusing enough to cause some drivers to exit their vehicles without first shifting to ‘PARK’ and causing to the vehicle to roll away as their exit it when the engine is still running.
The company claims that so far 41 injuries that are potentially related to this problem. The vehicles involved in these events were inspected and no evidence of equipment failure was found.
The company states that although all the vehicles deliver warning chimes and alert messages if their driver-side doors are opened while their engines are still running and ‘PARK’ is not engaged, these measures may be insufficient to deter some drivers from exiting their vehicles without selecting ‘PARK,’. The company plans to enhance the warnings and transmission-shift strategy on these vehicles.
The enhancements will combine warnings with a transmission-shift strategy to automatically prevent a vehicle from moving, under certain circumstances, even if the driver fails to select ‘PARK.’
Vehicles affected by this campaign are certain model-year 2012-2014 Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300 sedans, and model-year 2014-2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs.
Also subject to recall are an estimated 811,586 vehicles in the U.S., 52,144 vehicles in Canada; 16,805 in Mexico; and 248,667 outside the NAFTA region.
The company will notify customers when the service becomes available. In the interim, the company urges customers to follow the instructions in the vehicle’s owner’s manual.
