The Fiat Chrysler Automobile group announced that it will temporarily cease production of vehicles fitted with defective Takata airbags.
The only model in the group that continues to be equipped with front passenger airbag inflators, which lack a certain drying agent and have been linked to numerous premature ruptures, will be the 2016 Jeep Wrangler.
However, this only happens until next week, when models made for the NAFTA market will migrate from a non-desiccated ammonium-nitrate design, while global production will end mid-September.
Concerned owners who have raised question on the topic are assured by the FCA that there haven’t been any failures involving this inflator in the tests performed on nearly 6,300 older versions of the component, as all performed as intended, and, moreover, the company is unaware of any incidents involving the defective parts in Jeeps.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will not be selling cars with the faulty airbags without advising customers that their vehicles could be recalled in the future, even if they there is not currently a safety campaign announced for them.
Meanwhile, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has specified a Coordinated Remedy Program for the tens of millions of vehicles equipped with the shrapnel spreading Takata airbag inflators, which may degrade after several years of exposure to high absolute humidity, causing them to deploy with excessive force.
Note: Jeep Wrangler Backcountry pictured
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