Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over Alleged Airbag Deployment System Defect in Certain Dodge, Ram, Jeep Vehicles

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An alleged airbag control unit (ACU) defect in certain model Dodge and Jeep vehicles is at the center of a proposed class action lawsuit filed in Michigan against Fiat Chrysler and major auto parts supplier ZF TRW Automotive Holdings Corp.

The 74-page lawsuit says the defect manifests when a critical integrated circuit within a vehicle’s ACU becomes overstressed by electrical signals from sensors connected to it. This electrical overstress, the suit states, can prevent the airbag from deploying and seatbelts from tensioning during an accident. Echoing the Takata airbag scandal, Fiat Chrysler and ZF TRW, the case alleges, concealed the potential deadly defect from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the public.

For its part, ZF TRW, the manufacturer of the allegedly defective ACUs, began to investigate reported airbag failures in early 2015 yet supposedly did not inform the NHTSA until later in the year, the complaint continues. After its own investigation, Fiat Chrysler in 2016 issued a partial recall for some models “while continuing to avoid a recall of all affected vehicles,” the suit says. Per the case, “numerous injuries and several deaths” have subsequently been linked to faulty ACUs. 

“Each Defendant knew about the defect for years before they took any action to inform consumers or repair defective vehicles,” the suit reads.

The vehicles the lawsuits says are equipped with faulty ACUs, i.e. “class vehicles,” are:

Roughly 12.3 million vehicles may be equipped with a defective ACU, according to the NHTSA. Fiat Chrysler and ZR TRW, the lawsuit claims, conspired to conceal the potentially deadly defect afflicting millions of vehicles already on the road “in order to continue selling defective parts for installation in new vehicles.”