US closes probe into 7.4 million Stellantis vehicles without seeking recall

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, Feb 26 (Reuters) – The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Thursday closed a long-running probe into nearly 7.4 million U.S. vehicles built by Chrysler-parent Stellantis over inadvertent deployments of active head rests without seeking a recall.

The U.S. auto safety agency said Stellantis had agreed to offer a 10-year extended warranty for the 2010 through 2020 model year vehicles. NHTSA first opened its investigation in 2019 but closed it Thursday citing a lack of confirmed serious injuries. NHTSA said it had reports of 750 injuries but was unable to confirm any serious injuries where pre-existing medical conditions did not exist.

Stellantis did not immediately comment.

NHTSA spent years researching the issue and its Human Injury Research Division performed computer simulations of the deployment to evaluate the risks of skull fractures or brain injuries.

The agency reviewed up to 16 years of data and over 8,500 inadvertent deployments and “no serious crashes or injuries could be validated.”

The vehicles that were under investigation include the 2011-2014 Chrysler 200, 2010-2016 Town & Country, 2011-2020 Dodge Durango, 2010- 2020 Dodge Grand Caravan, 2010-2019 Dodge Journey, 2010-2017 Jeep Compass, 2011-2020 Jeep Grand Cherokee and 2010-2017 Jeep Patriot

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )