FCA Recalls Trucks for Takata Airbag Replacement

By Chris Chase

Jan 6, 2017

Summary

Expands on previous Takata campaign

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has recalled 1,166 SUVs and heavy-duty trucks to replace Takata airbag inflators.

Takata is the Japanese company behind thousands of airbag components at the centre of a scandal in which drivers have been injured or killed by flying debris from faulty inflators. Investigators discovered that high humidity degraded the propellant in the inflator, which causes the airbags to deploy with more force than they are designed to handle, which can send metal fragments flying into the cabin.

This latest recall is an expansion of a much larger one originally issued in 2015, and affects 2009 Dodge Durango and 2009 Chrysler Aspen SUVs, as well as some cab-and-chassis versions of the Ram 3500 truck. Transport Canada says that though airbag propellant degradation is less likely in Canada than in parts of the southern U.S., it has directed FCA to replace the airbags in these vehicles as "a precaution to address future risk."

Meet the Author

As a child, Chris spent most of his time playing with toy cars in his parents’ basement or making car sounds while riding his bicycle. Now he's an award-winning Algonquin College Journalism grad who has been playing with real cars that make their own noises since the early 2000s.