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Takata airbag recall claims 209k Chrysler, Dodge vehicles

Chrysler is expanding the scope of its front passenger side Takata airbag inflator recall yet again to include 139,115 additional vehicles for a total of 208,783 units now needing these parts replaced. The latest campaign affects the passenger side inflators of the 2003-2005 Dodge Ram 1500, 2003-2005 Dodge Ram 2500, 2003-2005 Dodge Ram 3500, 2004-2005 Durango; 2005 Dakota pickup; 2005 Dodge Magnum and 2005 Chrysler 300 (pictured above), 300C and SRT8. It's limited to vehicles purchased or ever registered in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and the territories of American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Saipan and the US Virgin Islands. The company expects owners to be notified by February 8. The automaker just expanded the replacement campaign last week to include passenger side inflators in 149,150 pickups from the 2003 model year. However, the parts are not the same. Chrysler says this recall is for the PSPI family of components versus SPI for the last one. The company is also not aware of any injuries or accidents in its vehicles from these potentially faulty inflators, and lab testing of 600 of them finds no issues. Despite this, Chrysler is repairing these models at the request of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Scroll down to read the company's full announcement of the initiative. Statement: Air-bag Inflator (Regional Field Action Expansion) December 12, 2014 , Auburn Hills, Mich. - Chrysler Group is expanding an ongoing regional field action with a recall to replace front passenger-side air-bag inflators in an estimated 208,783 older-model vehicles originally purchased or ever registered in seven U.S. states and five territories. The vehicles are equipped with front passenger-side air-bag inflators from a product family code-named "PSPI." Chrysler Group is unaware of any injuries or accidents involving PSPI inflators of the type covered by this campaign, nor has a Chrysler Group investigation identified a defect in these components. Further, laboratory tests on nearly 600 such inflators did not result in any failures. The inflators affected by this campaign differ in design and construction from PSPI inflators used by other auto makers. They also benefited from a more robust manufacturing process. However, at the request of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Chrysler Group is expanding its replacement action beyond its original scope of Florida, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the U.S.

Fiat Chrysler shares get a boost after revised Stellantis merger deal with PSA

MILAN — Shares in Fiat Chrysler (FCA) rose sharply in Milan on Tuesday after the car maker and French partner PSA revised the terms of their merger deal, with FCA's shareholders getting a smaller cash payout but a stake in another business. FCA and PSA, which last year agreed to merge to give birth to Stellantis, the world's fourth largest car manufacturer, said late on Monday they had amended the accord to conserve cash and better face the COVID-19 challenge to the auto sector. Milan-listed shares in Fiat Chrysler rose almost 8% by 1000 GMT, while PSA gained 1.5%. Under the revised terms, FCA will cut from 5.5 billion euros ($6.5 billion) to 2.9 billion euros the cash portion of a special dividend its shareholders are set to receive on conclusion of the merger. However, PSA will for its part delay the planned spinoff of its 46% stake in car parts maker Faurecia until after the deal is finalized. That means all Stellantis shareholders — and not just the current PSA investors - will get shares in a company which has a market value of 5.8 billion euros. Based on Stellantis' 50-50 ownership structure, FCA and PSA respective shareholders will each receive a 23% stake in Faurecia. Analysts welcomed the 2.6 billion euros in additional liquidity for Stellantis' balance sheet as well as the increase in projected synergies to more than 5 billion euros from 3.7 billion. There was also further reassurance as the two companies confirmed they expected the deal to close by the end of the first quarter of 2021. "All told, the two players emerge as winners," broker ODDO BHF said in a note. "Of the two, FCA might be a bit more of a winner in the short term given the structure of the deal and the numerous payouts to shareholders to come in the quarters ahead (potentially close to 5 billion euros versus the current capitalization of around 16 billion euros)." The special dividend for FCA shareholders had proved contentious after Italy offered state guarantees for a 6.3 billion euro loan to the company's Italian business. "These announcements should, at last, end the debate over the financial terms of the merger, which had become a big topic and was still penalizing the two groups' share performances," ODDO BHF said. PSA and FCA said they would consider paying out 500 million euros to shareholders in each firm before closing or else a 1 billion euro payout to Stellantis shareholders afterwards, depending on market conditions and company performance and outlook.

For some, getting a Fiat 500e last week was almost free

Auto-racing clubs know a thing or two about moving fast. And a couple of them out in California appeared to do just that when a bunch of incentives for the Fiat 500e electric vehicle added up to a pretty sweet deal. Actually, a borderline free one. Green Car Reports was kind enough to do the math on the calculation of an $83-a-month, three-year lease deal on that included a $2,100 perk and required an $11,000 downpayment on the $32,000 car. California and federal government incentives for EVs cut that downpayment down to $1,000 out of pocket once the incentives ($7,500 from the feds, $2,500 from the state) were factored in by the leasing company. Then, Fiat-Chrysler was throwing in another $1,000 for folks who were leasing a car from another car company, hence the freebie. That means some lucky people, at least temporarily, were able to work basically a zero-downpayment agreement for a three-year lease on a car whose monthly payment is the equivalent of about two full tanks of gas. Once word of those perks got around to some California racing clubs, about 100 500e vehicles to be moved off of California lots during the past week or so. Plugged in, indeed. Related Videos: Featured Gallery 2013 Fiat 500e: Review View 40 Photos News Source: Green Car Reports Green Chrysler Fiat incentives fiat 500e