Chrysler Recalls 745,000 Jeeps Over Air Bag Malfunctions

Chrysler issued a recall order for two Jeep product lines. It applies to all Jeep Liberty models produced in 2002 and 2003 and to all Jeep Grand Cherokee models produced from 2002 to 2004, the Wall Street Journal reported.

“A design change to a supplied component was linked to a small number of inadvertent air-bag deployments, and in keeping with the best interests of our customers, we initiated a recall campaign,” David Dillon, Chrysler Group’s head of product investigations and campaigns, told the Journal.

This malfunction could also trigger the affected Jeeps’ pretensioners, which tighten seat belts around passengers before crashes, Chrysler said.

The recall is a result of investigations into claims about the air-bag problem conducted by Chrysler and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The company is recalling 744,822 vehicles in all.

Chrysler told the Journal it was unaware of any crashes caused by the malfunctioning air bags. However, the company said it did have reports of unintentional air-bag deployments. It described these incidents are extremely rare, accounting for “less than three one-hundredths of one percent (0.03 percent) of the subject vehicles.”

In May, Chrysler also recalled 67,872 Jeep Wranglers produced during the 2010 model year to fix a transmission problem that the company said could lead to vehicle fires, as noted by the Christian Science Monitor.