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Harsh words from senators over Chrysler's delay in reporting hack

The federal agency charged with protecting American motorists wants to know more about how hackers remotely commandeered and controlled a Jeep Cherokee. Hours after Fiat Chrysler Automobiles recalled 1.4 million cars affected by a flaw in their cellular connections, officials with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Friday they'll further probe the defect by conducting a formal recall query investigation. "Opening this investigation will allow NHTSA to better assess the effectiveness of the remedy proposed," the agency said in a written statement. The remedy works, said Chris Valasek, one of the researchers who first discovered the security flaw. After testing for the vulnerability again Friday, he wrote on Twitter: "Looks like I can't get to @0xcharlie's Jeep from my house via my phone. Good job FCA/Sprint!" From his Pittsburgh home, Valasek had previously accessed and controlled co-worker Charlie Miller's Jeep along a St. Louis highway. Researchers have demonstrated remote hacks before, but the scope and severity of the Jeep vulnerability was unprecedented. The recall for a cyber threat was the first of its kind. Although a software patch and changes made by cellular provider Sprint appeared to fix the problem, news of the exploit and Chrysler's response brought a fresh round of consternation on Capitol Hill, where federal lawmakers had already expressed concerns about automotive cyber security. The Jeep hack elevated their concerns to a new level. "Cyber threats in cars are real and urgent, no figment of the imagination, as this huge recall demonstrates," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). "Incredibly, Chrysler delayed disclosing this chilling cyber-security danger egregiously and inexcusably, and strong sanctions are appropriate to send a message that other auto manufacturers will heed." Chrysler had known about the security gap since October, and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) wondered why it took the company so long to let customers know they were at risk. "Despite knowing about this security gap for nearly nine months, Chrysler is only now recalling 1.4 million vehicles to fix this vulnerability," he said. That's a potential pitfall for Chrysler, and something NHTSA will likely address in its investigation. Automakers are supposed to report safety-related defects to the agency within five days of discovery. But according to a chronology of events Chrysler submitted in its recall paperwork, it didn't inform NHTSA until July 15.

Jeep Cherokee faces on-sale delay

A report in The Wall Street Journal looks at some of the obstacles to the 2014 Jeep Cherokee that go beyond its mootable yet "very contemporary" looks, almost all of them based on Fiat's financial position. Starting with that sheetmetal, in defense of it SRT president Ralph Gilles and Jeep design head Mark Allen said they wanted to "make sure the design still looks modern five years from now."
The WSJ piece doesn't cite longevity as a factor, instead saying that its features originated in a design for an Alfa Romeo, the transformation into a Jeep design meant allowing Chrysler get it to market more quickly and save "hundreds of millions of dollars" in engineering.
The need for Fiat to save money while it weathers the European situation has cut budgets for development, engineering and the pace of retooling the Toledo, Ohio plant to build the Cherokee. In a familiar case of snowballing at work, among the effects will be pushing back the Cherokee's volume sales date and delaying updates to some of Chrysler's other products.

Autoblog Minute: No strike, FCA and UAW reach tentative agreement

A union strike is avoided as the United Auto Workers reached a tentative agreement with FCA. Autoblog's Adam Morath reports on this edition of Autoblog Minute. Show full video transcript text [00:00:00] A union strike is avoided as the United Auto Workers reached a tentative agreement with FCA. I'm Adam Morath and this is your Autoblog Minute. The previous contract extension between the UAW and FCA expired at 11:59 pm on Wednesday, October the 7th. Had a new agreement not been reached, the UAW was set to strike at midnight. A zero hour tentative agreement was reached preventing a strike and now, [00:00:30] UAW leaders will convene for a vote on a new deal, Friday, October 9th. In a press release, the UAW said that terms of the new deal will be announced following the Friday vote. Check in with Autoblog as we continue to update reports as more details of the new labor deal come in. But in the meantime, work at FCA will go on. For Autoblog I'm Adam Morath. Autoblog Minute is a short-form video news series reporting on all things automotive. Each segment offers a quick and clear picture of what's happening in the automotive industry from the perspective of Autoblog's expert editorial staff, auto executives, and industry professionals. UAW/Unions Chrysler Fiat Autoblog Minute Videos Original Video FCA strike