According to the company’s Tuesday announcement, Stellantis asked owners of thousands of 2003 Dodge Ram trucks to “immediately stop” driving the cars if their Takata airbags had not been replaced. Following a fatal accident involving one of the trucks on May 13, which US officials said represented the 26th death in the US related to a defective item, the “Do Not Drive” consumer notice was released. In 2015, the business, which was then known as Chrysler, recalled 385,686 of the cars. According to The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, US authorities estimate that about 84,000 of the vehicles were still in need of repair. According to Stellantis, there are still 29,000 of them on US roadways.
After declaring bankruptcy in the wake of the airbag scandal the Takata brand vanished in 2018
Stellantis sent six recall notices, but “all went unheeded,” the company said. “NHTSA is urging ALL vehicle owners to immediately check to see if their vehicle has an open Takata airbag recall,” the agency said. “If it does, owners need to contact their dealership to schedule a FREE repair as soon as possible and follow any warnings from the vehicle manufacturer.”
After declaring bankruptcy in the wake of the airbag scandal, which touched practically all major global automakers, including Toyota and General Motors, and led to the largest-ever safety recall in the car industry, the Takata brand vanished in 2018. Ammonium nitrate, a substance utilized in Takata’s airbag inflator canisters as a propellant, was found to be responsible for the airbag issue. Because the chemical deteriorated, particularly in humid environments, the airbag occasionally failed to fully inflate and occasionally exploded, spraying metal shrapnel at the occupants of the car.
