FCA is on its way to recall more than 1.25 million pickups worldwide for a software error linked to reports of crash death and 2 injuries. This erroneous code could temporarily disable the side airbag and deployment seat of belt pretensioners- which reduce seat belt slack during impacts during a vehicle rollover spurred by a significant underbody impact, such as striking onroad debris or driving off-road.
The company will reprogram computer modules in the affected vehicles to address this error. An FCA spokesman said the likelihood of an incident was very low because a sequence of events was needed to cause an incident. There is no definitive proof the error was involved in two accidents, one of which resulted in a fatality, but the automaker was conducting the recall proactively, he said. The spokesman declined to say whether the code was produced inhouse or by an FCA supplier.
The recall covers 1.02 million 2013-16 Ram 1500 and 2500 pickups, and 2014-2016 Ram 3500 pickups in the U.S., 216,007 vehicles in Canada; 21,668 in Mexico; and 21,530 outside North America. Fiat Chrysler said the recall would start late in June.
