Chrysler Group LLC announced a recall of 919,545 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Liberty sport utility vehicles from the 2002 to 2004 model years worldwide to repair a problem with the air bags resulting in unexpected deployment of the bags while the SUV is being driven.
The company, in a posting on the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) website on Friday, admitted that flaws were found in a part called the occupant restraint control module.
Failure of that module could result the front airbags or side curtain airbags to deploy inadvertently while the SUVs are being operated, increasing the risk of injury or accident, NHTSA documents said.
A total of 744,822 vehicles are recalled are in the United States, 49,430 in Canada; 21,828 in Mexico; and 103,465 outside North America, Chrysler said. The company said there were no accidents reported so far; however, confirmed 215 cases of inadvertent air bag deployments as reported by the NHTSA, resulting in 81 minor injuries involving both jeep models.
According to the NHTSA reports, the automaker initiated an investigation back in Oct. 2011 on complaints of inadvertent airbag deployments in Liberty SUVs which in Jan. 2012 was upgraded to an engineering analysis to include the Grand Cherokee SUVs.
Confirming that the company will notify the affected customers directly, Chrysler spokesman Eric Mayne told Fox2Now that the customers just have to take their vehicle in and the repair will take less than an hour at no cost.
