2014 Jeep Cherokee Latitude on 2040-cars

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FCA seeking new trial in Jeep fire case, calls $150M judgement 'grossly excessive'

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is fighting back after a Decatur County, GA jury ordered the company to pay $150 million to the family of a four-year-old boy that was killed after a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee crashed and caught fire. The company is requesting the judge reduce the award, and should Walden's family not agree to the lower sum, that a new trial be held. The Detroit Free Press reports that FCA would be forced to pay $120 million over the death of young Remington Walden, with an extra $30 million being paid to the boy's family. Neither figure sits well with the automaker, though, which called the fine "grossly excessive," and claimed it was in violation of Georgia state law. The judgment stems from FCA's long-running problem with the fuel tanks of certain Jeep models built in the 1990s and 2000s. According to the newspaper, FCA argues that the jury was biased after the Waldens' attorneys played on the their passions and pushed for a big award, saying the wrongful death award was 11 times more than any appeals court has ever upheld. FCA said attorneys for the plaintiffs told the jury to base the settlement on Sergio Marchionne's total compensation, $68 million. FCA also claims in its motion that the young boy's suffering was brief. "A $30-million pain-and-suffering award for what plaintiffs acknowledge was at most one minute of suffering is irrational," the motion, which was obtained by The Detroit Free Press, read. "Where such plainly improper arguments are immediately followed by irrational and stunningly excessive damage awards, there can be no doubt that the jury acted from passion and prejudice." Jim Butler, the attorney for the Waldens, has called the motion "nonsense," although he said the family will accept whatever figure the judge sets.

Supplier says Jeep Cherokee hack only affects FCA cars

Harman doesn't think that drivers need to worry about any further hacks of its products. The company supplies FCA's Uconnect infotainment system where a software vulnerability is responsible for a 1.4-million vehicle recall. "This experimental hack is unique to Chrysler," Harman CEO Dinesh Paliwal said to Automotive News. "This does not exist, to our assessment, in any other vehicle." The reason that the company wouldn't be involved is that automakers aren't simply plugging in the existing infotainment systems into new vehicles. According to Paliwal, Harman supplies the unit, but FCA and other automakers are able to make additional modifications for their vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has also recently taken up the question of broader software vulnerabilities in Harman's products. On July 29, the agency began investigating the company to check for similarities between Uconnect and the infotainment systems supplied to other automakers. The Jeep hack became national news when two researchers were remotely able to take control of a Cherokee. The vulnerability in the cellular connection even gave control over the brakes. "Once people get in the car and get into the CAN bus, then you can start to mimic and mess up many, many things in the car," Paliwal said to Automotive News. Politicians immediately responded with legislation to create federal standards in hopes of protecting drivers better. NHTSA also opened an investigation to make sure the automaker's software update actually solved the problem. Related Video:

Georgia jury awards $150 million in Jeep fire case

FCA US continues to fight allegations that some Jeep Grand Cherokee and Liberty sport-utility vehicles are unsafe because of the possibility of fires in rear-end collisions. In one recently decided case, a jury in Georgia awarded $150 million in damages to a family whose child died in a blaze in 2012 in a 1999 Grand Cherokee. The jury believed that FCA acted with "reckless and wanton disregard," and didn't do enough to warn owners, according to Reuters. The automaker was found liable for 99 percent of the damages, and the remaining one percent was for the driver who rear-ended the family's SUV. In a statement from FCA US, the company said that it is considering an appeal. Under Georgia law, the automaker was allegedly unable to present a three-year investigation of rear-impact data to jurors. This was the same information the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration used to decide that the '99 Grand Cherokee "did not pose an unreasonable risk to motor vehicle safety." The original recall for the models covered 1.56 million examples of the 2002-2007 Liberty and 1993-1998 Grand Cherokee. With the fuel tank located between the rear axle and bumper, NHTSA and FCA eventually agreed to install a trailer hitch for extra protection. A further 1.2 million 1999-2004 Grand Cherokees owners received notice of a customer service action to have their vehicles inspected, though no hitch installed. Subsequent tests showed this remedy to be effective for impacts below 40 miles per hour. The automaker has maintained the SUVs met the applicable safety standards of the period when they were built. The company was chastised by NHTSA last year for low repair rates of the problem. FCA US LLC Statement Regarding Walden v Chrysler Group Verdict: April 2, 2015 , Auburn Hills, Mich. - FCA US is disappointed and will consider an appeal of this verdict. It is unfortunate that under Georgia Law the jury was prevented from taking into account extensive data submitted to NHTSA during a three year investigation, which included more than 20 years of rear impact accident data for tens of millions of vehicles. This and other information provided the basis for NHTSA's determination that the 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee did not pose an unreasonable risk to motor vehicle safety.