June 5, 2015—On Thursday, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles acknowledged that it was late in notifying customers of five safety recall campaigns, according to USA Today.
In each of the five instances, FCA US told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that it had exceeded the 60-day limited of notifying owners of the recall.
The acknowledgement was in response to a July 2 hearing set up by the NHTSA, looking into FCA being slow on 20 recalls affecting 11 million vehicles. FCA filed 5 million documents this week to try to fulfill a government's request providing automaker’s answers to specific questions.
"The initiatives described in our response to NHTSA's Special Order reflect a deep commitment to thorough investigation and the timely remedy of safety defects. While this commitment has helped FCA US achieve positive results, we will not be satisfied until we firmly re-establish the trust our customers place in us,” FCA commented after the response was posted on NHTSA’s website, according to USA Today.
The FCA stated that its executives believe the company was active enough in its recall efforts to warrant canceling the July 2 hearing.
The NHTSA said that the hearing will proceed as scheduled.
FCA said it has "diligently and reasonably searched all known sources of records likely to contain responsive information or documents, and has compiled the requested information and provided comprehensive answers to each and every question,” according to USA Today.
FCA has said it has already taken a number of actions including a senior management review and monthly report on all recall actions. The automaker also said it now has a stand-alone organization for vehicle safety and regulatory compliance and has increased staff in the past year by 65 percent. Spokesman for FCA Eric Mayne said that the automaker's completion rate is 84 percent, which is above the industry average at 83 percent, according to USA Today.
