2013 Chrysler Town & Country Touring on 2040-cars

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Five automakers now being investigated by NHTSA for airbag woes

It appears that Toyota's renotification to owners of recalled vehicles from last year is just the tip of the iceberg for what could potentially be a much larger industry-wide recall. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is opening a preliminary evaluation investigation into roughly 1.1 million vehicles from Chrysler, Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Toyota and parts supplier Takata regarding faulty airbag inflators in several models.
NHTSA has received six reports - three directly, two from Takata and one from Toyota - of vehicles with ruptured airbag inflators from 2002-2006, which resulted in three injuries. So far, all six incidents have occurred in high humidity areas like Florida and Puerto Rico. According to Toyota's latest recall announcement, the inflators may have an improper propellant that could cause it to rupture in a crash and the bag to deploy abnormally.
This new investigation follows a previous recall from April 2013 of about 3.4 million vehicles worldwide for the airbag inflators from Takata. As Autoblog reported, Toyota jumpstarted the new situation when it found that the original list of serial numbers for the faulty part was incomplete and discovered more cars in need of replacement. Honda and Nissan told us that they were investigating whether further models would need called in again as well. Mazda told Autoblog: "Regarding the current Takata situation, we're working closely with NHTSA and investigating the situation, but nothing else to report at this time." Chrysler Group responded to us with the statement: "Chrysler Group engineers are conducting the appropriate analysis. The Company will cooperate fully with the National Highway Traffic Administration."

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles targets mid-October IPO

The merged Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is targeting October 13 to launch its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, CEO Sergio Marchionne told reporters assembled for a meeting in Rimini, Italy.
"The most likely date for the listing in the US is October 13," Marchionne said, according to Reuters.
Marchionne is trusting that the money made in the IPO will be contribute heavily his ambitious, $64-billion five-year growth plan, which will see FCA reboot Alfa Romeo and Maserati and expand Jeep's global presence. Should the IPO fall short, though, Marchionne has confirmed that "all decision [sic] on any capital increase will be taken by the board of FCA at the end of October."

FCA discussing tech partnership with Hyundai, but no merger

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is in talks with South Korea's Hyundai about a technical partnership, but there are no merger talks between the two, FCA Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said on Saturday. FCA is often the subject of merger speculation, especially after its unsuccessful 2015 attempt to tie up with larger U.S. rival GM. Its share price jumped to record highs in August after reports of interest from China and Hyundai. "We already buy components from (Hyundai) .... let's see if we can agree on other points, especially for the development of transmissions and hydrogen," Marchionne told journalists, adding there was "nothing to announce for the moment". Asked whether this collaboration could turn into a merger, Marchionne said: "I don't believe so". (Reporting by Agnieszka Flak; editing by Alexander Smith)Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.