June 19, 2013—The Chrysler Group agreed Tuesday to recall 1.56 million older Jeep models to address fire risks caused by leaking gas tanks.
Chrysler initially rejected the recall notice from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), before agreeing to a modified recall that reduced the number of Jeeps involved by more than a million.
As part of the agreement with the NHTSA, Chrysler also did not agree that the vehicles were defective.
“Chrysler Group’s analysis of the data confirms that these vehicles are not defective and are among the safest in the peer group," Chrysler said in a statement. "Nonetheless, Chrysler Group recognizes that this matter has raised concerns for its customers and wants to take further steps, in coordination with NHTSA, to provide additional measures to supplement the safety of its vehicles."
The automaker will recall 1.56 million 1993-1998 Jeep Grand Cherokees and 2002-2007 Jeep Liberty SUVs.
Chrysler said the fix for those vehicles is a trailer hitch assembly that will protect the gas tank during rear-end crashes.
Chrysler will offer a “customer service action” for the additional 1.2 million vehicles that the government wanted it to recall.
The NHTSA said that the leaky gas tanks are responsible for the deaths of at least 51 people driving Jeep SUVs.
