The automaker has fought with the agency at nearly every step of the recall, which centers around fire risk from ruptured fuel tanks. To help protect against a tank breach, the company agreed to install trailer hitches on the 2002-2007 Liberty and 1993-1998 Grand Cherokee.
In its latest letter to the Chrysler, the agency noted that it was satisfied with the hitch remedy but claimed that the current rate of parts production would drag out the repair process to nearly five years.
“According to the agency, after conducting and analyzing eight rear impact crash reconstruction tests, NHTSA informed Chrysler that ‘it did not have any reservations about implementation of Chrysler’s proposed remedy,’” the company said in a statement. “This reflects Chrysler Group’s long-standing position — supported in the public record by real-world data — that the vehicles are not defective.”
The exposed fuel tanks have been officially associated with at least 51 fatalities. In an open letter to the NHTSA, Center for Auto Safety director Clarence Ditlow suggests the real total may be significantly higher. The advocacy group counts 370 fatal fire crashes in the recalled models, resulting in 503 total victims and at least 167 deaths directly blamed on fire.
“To date, not a single Jeep has been remedied under this recall while at least 4 people have died and 2 more have been seriously burned in Jeep fire crashes,” Ditlow wrote.
Chrysler argues that the recalled models are “among the safest in their peer groups” and “met or exceeded” the industry standards in effect at the time they were first sold.
The company has not yet filed its formal response to the NHTSA.
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