By Edgar Brandt
WINDHOEK – Close to 570 Jeep Cherokees built between 2014 and 2015 by Fiat Chrysler Automobile (FCA US) in the United States, are affected by a massive global recall of an estimated 228 180 of the sport utility vehicles (SUVs) to upgrade software governing side-curtain and seat-mounted airbags.
The action comes after FCA engineers’ investigated reports of airbag systems deploying inadvertently when sensing a potential rollover.
“We are aware of 569 vehicles affected in South Africa, which will include Namibia,” said Richard Sloman, media liaison manager
at Chrysler South Africa.
“FCA US is unaware of any related injuries or accidents. The software upgrade will recalibrate the threshold for deployment and the vehicles will remain compliant with all applicable safety regulations,” explained Slowman. He said however that the company is not at liberty to divulge costs associated with such recalls.
Chrysler is recalling the popular SUVs because they “can achieve vehicle angles during off-road driving events which may exceed the occupant restraint control (ORC) module rollover calibration thresholds” and possibly set off the side-curtain airbags.
The company says they are in the process of contacting Jeep Cherokee owners to recalibrate the ORCl module to raise the rollover-detection threshold. The recall affects 2014–2015 model-year Cherokees built between January 1, 2013 and November 19, 2014 and the recalibration will of course be done free of charge.
The Jeep Cherokee recall follows US federal safety regulators’ announcement on Saturday that Toyota Motor Corp, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Honda Motor Co will recall about 2.1 million older vehicles to fix defects that could cause airbags to deploy when they are not supposed to.
According to FCA, the repair is a simple matter of recalibration. A similar update was done by FCA in May of last year and according to reports the very same problem plagued the Cherokee’s initial launch.