Chrysler is coming under fire yet again in the ongoing saga over automotive recalls.
In a public hearing on Tuesday, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) "tentatively concluded" the company took their sweet time fixing 11 million recalled vehicles.
The hearing was initially called back in May to determine if action should be taken against Chrysler for the poor way it has handled the problem.
“In my experience, Fiat Chrysler’s recall performance often differs from that of its peers,” said Scott Yon, chief of the NHTSA's Vehicle Integrity division.
“Fiat Chrysler takes a long time to produce the parts needed to get vehicles fixed. Their dealers have difficulty getting parts for recalls. Their customers have trouble getting recall repairs done. Fiat Chrysler’s recall remedies sometimes fail to remedy the defects they are supposed to fix.”
The NHTSA singled out Chrysler's slow pace in repairing millions of Jeeps that tend to explode during low speed, rear end crashes. The issue has been linked to about 50 deaths, but the NHTSA says only about 320,000 vehicles had been fixed since the end of April.
The automarker disputes the findings, claiming they had actually been increasing repair rates. A Chrysler spokesperson says the NHTSA is actually to blame citing regulators didn't initially see risks to safety.
If the hearing finds Chrysler failed to meet its recall obligations, they could be required under US federal law to repurchase or replace the affected vehicles.
Source: The Consumerist
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