Australian drivers have been caught up in the mass Fiat Chrysler vehicle recall affecting the United States and Canada, but it's currently unclear how many vehicles in Australia are affected.
Australian's who drive Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) Jeep Cherokee, Grand Cherokee, Chrysler 300 and Dodge Journey models are being warned to exercise caution when using the cruise control system.
It follows a voluntary recall in the US and Canada that's affected close to five million vehicles.
Though there are no known incidents or injuries so far, the company took the pre-emptive step amid concerns that vehicles are not slowing automatically when in cruise control mode.
A spokesperson from FCA Australia told SBS that in some cases, cars may continue to accelerate at the speed set by the driver, meaning they won't slow down automatically to prevent collision with other vehicles, as they are designed to.
Fiat said the exact number and model breakdown of Australian vehicles affected won’t be known until early next week, though its understood only petrol automatic engines are of concern.
In the meantime, the company is advising Australian motorists engaging in the cruise control system to be ready to use the foot brake if needed.
Mass US recall affects millions
In the US, 4.8 million US vehicles will be recalled and there are additional vehicles affected in Canada.
While the flaw would require an unlikely series of events to happen simultaneously for an incident to occur, the company said it was committed to the safety of consumers driving any of the nine affected models of cars, vans, trucks and SUVs from model years 2014 to 2018 and in one case the 2019 model year.
The company will provide owners with a free software fix to prevent the cruise control system from locking up as the car accelerates, preventing the driver from deactivating it.
The problem would only occur if the acceleration occurs simultaneously with a short-circuit in a specific electrical network, FCA said in a statement.
"Notwithstanding the extraordinary circumstances that must exist before a customer would experience a problem, we are taking this action because we are fully committed to vehicle safety," said Mark Chernoby, the company's head of vehicle safety and regulatory compliance for North America.
Drivers could override the cruise control in case of a failure either by braking or switching the vehicle into neutral.
The company said it was unaware of any related injuries or accidents involving the affected vehicles but warned drivers to refrain from using cruise control until the software fix is made.
The models include the popular Ram pickup trucks of all sizes, the Jeep Cherokee and the Chrysler Pacifica minivan.
- Additional reporting AFP
