Almost 745,000 Jeep Liberty and Grand Cherokee SUVs are being recalled in the United States following a preliminary investigation from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that discovered a faulty component in the air bag control module caused airbags and/or seatbelt pretensioners to deploy without reason, injuring dozens of people.
According to a document from the NHTSA, the probe identified a total of 215 cases of inadvertent airbag deployments, in which 81 people suffered minor injuries. The government agency noted that it was not aware of any crashes related to this issue.
The Chrysler Group issued a statement saying that it will fix the problem by installing a supplemental jumper harness to the airbag control module.
The affect vehicles are certain 2002-2003MY Jeep Liberty SUVs manufactured from January 9, 2001, through March 28, 2003, and 2002-2004MY Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs built from February 13, 2001, through May 23, 2003.
The recall is expected to begin during January 2013.
Update: Apart from the 744,822 units in the Unites States, the automaker is also recalling 49,430 in Canada; 21,828 in Mexico; and 103,465 outside North America for the same reason.
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