(Bloomberg) — It took more than two years for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV to make replacements for a defective nut that put drivers of Ram trucks in danger of losing control when their wheels locked up. Other Ram owners waited more than 15 months for a broken tie-rod fix.
Fiat Chrysler also dragged its feet on fixing faulty ignition switches and tire failures and has repaired only 6 percent of Jeep Grand Cherokees with exposed gas tanks that can catch on fire, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The examples were cited at an unusual hearing in Washington convened by the safety agency in response to what it says is the company's mishandling of recalls for more than 10 million vehicles to fix various flaws. NHTSA is considering punishments that could include fines or forcing Fiat Chrysler to buy back defective vehicles, said Mark Rosekind, head of the NHTSA. Criminal charges could also be sought.
"There's a pattern that's been going on for some time," Rosekind told reporters after the hearing. Rosekind said some kind of enforcement action was likely soon after the public comment period closes July 17. "The evidence seems straightforward."
Justice Department
NHTSA officials will review the entire record on how Fiat Chrysler complied with U.S. motor vehicle safety laws, Rosekind said. If it determines company officials knowingly took actions that impeded safety, the agency would make a referral to the Justice Department for a criminal case, he said.
Agency officials went into detail on how specific safety defects endangered vehicle owners while they waited for repairs. NHTSA investigator Scott Yon said for a Ram pickup pinion nut defect identified in early 2013, Fiat Chrysler took more than two years to make replacement parts after initially saying they'd be ready in less than nine months.
Meanwhile, truck drivers were in danger of wheels locking up and loss of control, Yon said. NHTSA was receiving complaints about locking axles and narrowly avoided crashes in July 2014. It was still getting complaints in May 2015 that dealers didn't have parts available and couldn't say when they would come, Yon said.
"Fiat Chrysler's failure to provide timely, accurate and complete information to NHTSA on its recalls impedes our ability to do our job," said Jennifer Timian, acting director of NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation. "We are concerned that Fiat Chrysler vehicle owners are facing similar issues."
Reforming culture
Fiat Chrysler has said its average recall completion rate exceeds the industry average, and all of its safety campaigns are conducted in consultation with NHTSA. The company says it has fully cooperated with the continuing agency investigation and is taking other steps.
"The agency has raised some legitimate questions," Scott Kunselman, senior vice president for vehicle safety and regulatory compliance, said at the hearing. "We acknowledge and understand those concerns. We have made and continue to make changes to improve the company's performance."
In the weeks leading up to today's hearing, Fiat Chrysler's U.S. executives, including Kunselman, met with NHTSA in Washington to assure regulators it has overhauled its recall compliance program. The automaker sent a delegation to Washington June 17 to discuss the company's changes.
Dealer training
Among the steps the Auburn Hills, Michigan-based unit automaker is taking to improve recall completion rates are an improved smartphone app with recall alert functions, more agents dedicated to answering consumer phone calls, and training at the company's dealerships to improve recall responses, according to a summary of the meeting posted on NHTSA's website Wednesday.
Kunselman, the safety officer who now reports directly to Fiat Chrysler Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne, attended the meeting with NHTSA and outlined some of the changes at the hearing today.
Members of the public invited to testify recounted grisly crashes involving family members. Todd Anderson described a 2013 crash involving his son, Skyler Justice Anderson-Coughlin, driving a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Skyler had been about to graduate high school and wanted to study at Stanford, Anderson said. He survived the impact of the crash but died of burn wounds after the Jeep caught on fire. The family received recall notices after his son's death, Anderson said.
"Had I received a notice, I never would have allowed Skyler to drive the vehicle," Anderson said. "I urge you to take these vehicles off the road. I urge you to take action so the best and brightest do not die senselessly."
NHTSA has become more aggressive since it was lambasted by Congress for failing to be more active prior to last year's revelation that about 2.6 million General Motors Co. cars had a known ignition-switch defect that went unrecalled for years.
The last time NHTSA had a public hearing on a recall was in 2012, for a single fix by a small motorcycle importer called Wildfire Motors.
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