2005 Chrysler Crossfire Limited Convertible 2-door 3.2l on 2040-cars

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Five automakers now being investigated by NHTSA for airbag woes

It appears that Toyota's renotification to owners of recalled vehicles from last year is just the tip of the iceberg for what could potentially be a much larger industry-wide recall. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is opening a preliminary evaluation investigation into roughly 1.1 million vehicles from Chrysler, Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Toyota and parts supplier Takata regarding faulty airbag inflators in several models.
NHTSA has received six reports - three directly, two from Takata and one from Toyota - of vehicles with ruptured airbag inflators from 2002-2006, which resulted in three injuries. So far, all six incidents have occurred in high humidity areas like Florida and Puerto Rico. According to Toyota's latest recall announcement, the inflators may have an improper propellant that could cause it to rupture in a crash and the bag to deploy abnormally.
This new investigation follows a previous recall from April 2013 of about 3.4 million vehicles worldwide for the airbag inflators from Takata. As Autoblog reported, Toyota jumpstarted the new situation when it found that the original list of serial numbers for the faulty part was incomplete and discovered more cars in need of replacement. Honda and Nissan told us that they were investigating whether further models would need called in again as well. Mazda told Autoblog: "Regarding the current Takata situation, we're working closely with NHTSA and investigating the situation, but nothing else to report at this time." Chrysler Group responded to us with the statement: "Chrysler Group engineers are conducting the appropriate analysis. The Company will cooperate fully with the National Highway Traffic Administration."

Bob Lutz, UAW rep commend Chrysler for not bowing to NHTSA recall pressure [w/poll]

Bob Lutz, the well-known executive with a range of automakers including both General Motors and Chrysler, says he supports Chrysler for not caving under federal pressure to issue a recall on 2.7 million Jeep vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is arguing that the plastic fuel tanks positioned behind the axles of certain 1993-2004 Grand Cherokee models and 2002-2007 Liberty models may become punctured in a collision and potentially catch fire, so it has called upon Chrysler to recall the vehicles. 15 deaths and 46 injuries have been attributed to the issue. For its part, Chrysler has maintained that its models "met and exceeded" all safety applicable mandates when they were manufactured, and furthermore, they argue that the government agency's own data proves that the vehicles are no more dangerous than similar SUVs produced by other automakers at the time. As a result, it is taking the unusual step of refusing to recall the vehicles.
According to The Detroit News, Lutz says Chrysler is right to push back when the government is out of line. Lutz also said that he wished he could have done the same when NHTSA urged Chrysler to issue a recall on certain minivans back when he was with the automaker 25 years ago.
Meanwhile, United Auto Workers Vice President General Holiefield also defended Chrysler by saying, "Our legendary Jeeps are crafted with pride by our dedicated UAW American workforce who work tirelessly to ensure the utmost quality of each Jeep that is produced for customers."

Could Chrysler leave Michigan for Tennessee?

Detroit's Big Three could become the Big Two. According to an AP report in The Detroit News, state officials have been lobbying for Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne to select Tennessee as the location for Fiat's joint headquarters with Chrysler Group LLC.
This weekend, Marchionne met with Tennessee governor Bill Haslam at a ceremony celebrating the expansion of a Fiat subsidiary plant in the city of Pulaski. The AP report does not mention any serious talks about headquarters relocation, only that Tennessee officials have been "working me over pretty well," according to Marchionne.
Fiat hopes to complete its merger with the Auburn Hills-based automaker sometime next year, and earlier reports have stated that the company is seeking $10 billion in financing to buy the remaining bits of Chrysler. If the company were to relocate, it would join Nissan and Volkswagen in having major American automotive operations in Tennessee. Of course, that whole "Imported From Detroit" thing would need to go out the window, as well.