STATEMENT: BRAKE HOSE

February 28, 2014 , Auburn Hills, Mich. - Chrysler Group LLC will conduct a safety recall to inspect approximately 6,800 full-size vans and, if necessary, replace a brake hose.

A routine post-production test on one van discovered damage that could degrade brake performance. Damage was linked to the use of a specific wrench during assembly; it is no longer used.

Chrysler Group is unaware of any related injuries, accidents or complaints.

Approximately half of the affected vehicles, all model-year 2014 Ram ProMasters, are in dealer hands. Chrysler Group expects less than two percent of the total will require repair.

If damage is observed, the brake hose will be replaced.

Chrysler Group will notify affected customers; all repair costs will be borne by the Company.

Customers who remain concerned may call 1-800-853-1403.

Plastics News China
Automotive News Europe

The small Chinese injection molding company at the center of a worldwide recall of Aston Martin cars says its name has been wrongly tarnished and it faces serious financial problems because it has lost most of its customers.

Shenzhen Kexiang Mould Tool Co., which was named by Aston Martin as the manufacturer of accelerator pedal arms with counterfeit nylon resin, said it has been forced to close its factory as a result of the scandal.

In a January letter to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Aston Martin identified Kexiang as its Tier 3 molder of the pedal arms, saying it was "appointed" by the Tier 2 supplier, Fast Forward Tooling (HK) of Hong Kong.

But in a Feb. 20 interview in his factory in Shenzhen, Kexiang's general manager, Zhang Zhi Ang, said his company has no record of working with Fast Forward Tooling, except for a one-off project last July.

At that time, two Fast Forward Tooling employees came to its factory and hired Kexiang to make some sample parts using a mold and materials that Fast Forward Tooling supplied.

Zhang said it's a confusing and frustrating situation for him, and he questioned whether Aston Martin had complete information about its supply chain.

Aston Martin, the Warwick, England, maker of luxury sports vehicles, recalled more than 17,000 vehicles globally after finding that counterfeit nylon resin was used to mold the pedals.

It said the problematic resin was supplied by a company in Dongguan, China, and was not nylon 6 material from DuPont Co., as Aston Martin requires.

The company's recall letter to the U.S. government does not say that Kexiang intentionally used counterfeit resin.

An Aston Martin spokeswoman did not respond to e-mailed questions by Plastics News' deadline, but the company told China's People's Daily newspaper that it did not blame Kexiang for knowingly using fake materials.

'Without workers, without clients'


Zhang said his immediate concern is keeping his company in business.

In an interview with Plastics News and two other newspapers, Zhang said most of his customers stopped doing business with him after his company was linked to the Aston Martin recall.

He said his small company, which owns five secondhand injection molding machines, had 45 employees before the news broke.

All the production workers have resigned and only five administrative staff members remain. The factory appeared to be operating when Plastics News made two brief visits on Feb. 13 and Feb. 17, although it appeared to have only a few employees on the production floor.

"Kexiang is a victim of this incident," Zhang said. "We are without workers, without clients, without orders. We cannot function."

In the interview, Zhang conceded that it's possible his company made the parts that were recalled. But he said neither Aston Martin nor Fast Forward Tooling has presented proof that his company manufactured the pedal arms.

He said he can't say definitively that his company did or did not mold them because Kexiang manufactures many components for other subcontractors. Often those subcontractors do not tell Kexiang how the part ultimately will be used.

But he said he was sure that his company had no other contact or business with Fast Forward Tooling beyond that project in July.

Vague memories

Zhang said his memories of that July project were vague, and added that Kexiang was unsure of the details of the parts it made for Fast Forward Tooling or what Fast Forward Tooling did with those parts. He said key employees who worked on the project have left Kexiang.

Since the news broke, Zhang said he has tried to contact Fast Forward Tooling using mobile phone numbers left in the file at the time, but those phones have been turned off.

Plastics News has tried unsuccessfully to contact Fast Forward Tooling several times since Feb. 12, using e-mail and a phone number from the company's Web site, and by visiting its office addresses in Hong Kong and Shenzhen.

Fast Forward Tooling's Hong Kong office belonged to an accounting firm that filed Fast Forward Tooling's paperwork. The Shenzhen office listed on Fast Forward Tooling's Web site was vacant when Plastics News visited on Feb. 17.

"This FFT is long gone," Zhang said. "Nobody can talk to them so how can Aston Martin prove they have been cooperating all the time?"

He said no one from Fast Forward Tooling or Aston Martin has come to his factory since Fast Forward Tooling visited in July.

The Aston Martin letter that named Kexiang as the manufacturer said that in the United States it is recalling 5,001 cars manufactured by the company since 2007. But Zhang said his company was formed in 2010, raising questions about how much of the molding Kexiang is responsible for.

There is some public information that suggests Kexiang formed earlier. An English language Web site that Kexiang launched last year, under the name Cousun Industrial Co., said the company was formed in 2003 by Zhang.

But he said that date is wrong, and that the Web site was built by a former employee when the company wanted to expand into international markets.

Zhang said he would like Aston Martin to publicly state the Kexiang is innocent and apologize to help the company regain trust among its clients. He declined to say how long the company can hold out in its current situation.

He said he believes Kexiang is a victim of poor management within Aston Martin's supply chain: "This whole situation is caused by Aston Martin."

General Motors' problems with its recall of roughly 1.6-million vehicles continue to mount. Now that it has emerged that GM knew about the problem since at least 2004 but waited to recall vehicles until February 2014, regulators at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have begun a much deeper investigation. NHTSA has sent a 27-page survey to GM that includes 107 questions about the timeline of what led up to the recall, and it has until April 3 to reply.

This isn't a simple, multiple-choice test. Automotive News believes that hundreds of pages could be required to answer some of the queries. NHTSA says that it is still investigating GM's response to the recall. "We are a data-driven organization, and we will take whatever action is appropriate based on where our findings lead us," said NHTSA in a statement on its website. If found liable, the automaker could face a fine as high as $35 million and even possible criminal charges, according to Reuters.

NHTSA's questions include a detailed explanation of GM's examination process; how it will improve the process; why a planned redesign of the cars' key in 2005 wasn't implemented; and specific data on each complaint it received. According to Reuters, NHTSA also has records that show the company had a meeting with regulators to discuss the airbag failure in a Chevrolet Cobalt in 2007.

New GM CEO Mary Barra has also hired an outside law firm to conduct an independent investigation about what happened. It will include questioning company employees who were involved with the process from the start. The recall stems from faulty ignition switches that shut off the car while driving, and if it occurs the airbags deactivate. Thirteen deaths and 23 crashes have been caused by the problem, according to Reuters.

General Motors is facing an investigation from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration over its handling of a recall affecting roughly 1.6 million cars, but the automaker may have found a legal shield from possible future consumer lawsuits. The solution hinges on the old, pre-bankruptcy GM, and the new company that emerged afterward. While the name is the same, on paper they are technically different firms.

According to Automotive News, the company negotiated with state attorneys general and consumer groups during its restructuring to only carry product liability on faults with vehicles from after it left bankruptcy in 2009. If any owners want to sue GM for issues that took place before that time, they would have to take it up with the "old GM" in a bankruptcy court. So far, all attempts to sue the new company for pre-2009 faults have failed.

"It is true that new GM did not assume liability for claims arising from incidents or accidents occurring prior to July 2009," said GM spokesperson Greg Martin to Automotive News.

Because the vehicles affected by the recall were built between 2003 and 2007, covering only claims after 2009 limits the number of possible cases. The current total of incidents related to the ignition switch fault sits at 31 accidents and 13 deaths. The General hasn't revealed when these crashes occurred, but Automotive News claims to know of at least one fatal crash in a Chevrolet Cobalt in December of 2009 that was caused by the airbag not deploying. Even if the automaker is able to limit product liability lawsuits, it's still facing a possible fine from NHTSA that could be as high as $35 million, a new record in the industry.

Statement: Anti-Lock Brakes
March 7, 2014 , Auburn Hills, Mich. - Chrysler Group is recalling approximately 25,250 SUVs to improve pedal feel during certain aggressive braking maneuvers.

A supplier raised with the Company a concern about the performance of a component that accommodates Ready Alert Braking, a Chrysler Group safety system that primes brakes for optimal response when making a sudden stop. Brake function was neither lost nor out of compliance with regulation, but pedal feel was not consistent with customer expectations.

Chrysler Group is unaware of any related injuries or accidents.

An investigation discovered brake-fluid flow was being restricted too much. A software update optimizes flow and restores appropriate pedal feel.

Affected are certain Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango SUVs from model years 2012 and 2013 – approximately 18,700 in the U.S., 825 in Canada, 530 in Mexico and 5,200 outside the NAFTA region.

Chrysler Group will notify affected customers when to schedule service. Repair costs will be borne by the Company.

Manufacturer: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing

SUMMARY:
Toyota is recalling certain model year 2014 Highlander vehicles manufactured November 20, 2013, through January 18, 2014. The third row middle seat belt assembly might not have been properly secured to the vehicle floor anchorage during vehicle assembly. As such, these vehicles fail to conform to the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 210, "Seat Belt Assembly Anchorages."

CONSEQUENCE:
A seat belt that is not properly secured to its anchorage could increase the risk of injury to an occupant in the event of a crash.

REMEDY:
Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the third row middle seat belt anchor, and, if necessary, properly secure it to the vehicle floor anchorage, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin in March 2014. Owners may contact Toyota at 1-800-331-4331.

The public inquiry into the General Motors recall of roughly 1.6 million vehicles continues to broaden, and the US House Energy and Commerce Committee is planning a hearing to investigate GM's reaction to the problem. A date for the questioning hasn't been set yet, but it's expected to include officials from the automaker and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, according to Automotive News.

The committee is chaired by US Representative Fred Upton, a Republican from Michigan, who also oversaw a subcommittee investigation of rollovers of Ford Explorers with Firestone tires in 2000. In response, he sponsored and passed the Tread Act that required automakers to report defects to NHTSA in a timely matter. "Here we are over a decade later, faced with accidents and tragedies, and significant questions need to be answered. Did the company or regulators miss something that could have flagged these problems sooner?" said Upton in a statement on the committee's website.

According to AN, the automaker's internal investigation is led by former US attorney Anton Valukas, its general counsel, Michael Millikin and attorneys from the law firm King & Spalding. NHTSA is running a separate probe and submitted a 27-page questionnaire to GM about how it handled the recall, and how it will improve its process. The company has until April 3 to respond to the regulator.

"We are fully cooperating with NHTSA and will do so with the Committee, too. We welcome the opportunity to help both parties have a full understanding of the facts. I do not have any other details," said Alan Adler, GM's spokesperson on legal and recall topics, in an email to Autoblog.

The faulty ignition switches have been shown to turn off a vehicle inadvertently if jostled or put under heavy pressure, like if the driver had a weighty keychain. When this happens it also deactivates the airbag. There have been 13 fatalities and 31 crashes attributed to the problem. GM is facing a fine as high as $35 million from NHTSA if found that it delayed the recall, the highest ever in the industry. The company is also open to possible consumer lawsuits related to the issue.

Statement: Software Update
March 7, 2014 , Auburn Hills, Mich. - Chrysler Group is recalling approximately 19,500 cars to upgrade their transmission software.

Chrysler Group engineers launched an investigation after reviewing reports that some vehicles equipped with dual dry clutch automatic transmissions would not shift readily out of park and/or their transmissions did not receive, or were slow to receive, an intended gear selection.

Chrysler Group is unaware of any related injuries or accidents.

The investigation discovered the function of one microcontroller component may be compromised by certain temperature extremes. A software update resolves the issue.

Affected are certain 2014 Fiat 500L models, of which approximately 20 percent are in dealer hands.

Repair costs will be borne by the Company. Affected customers – approximately 18,100 in the U.S. and 1,400 in Canada – will be contacted and advised when to schedule service.

Of the total, an estimated 200 vehicles may require shift-module replacement to ensure hardware-software compatibility.

As the federal government continues to investigate General Motors for the delayed recall of certain Chevrolet, Saturn and Pontiac vehicles with faulty ignition switches, the Detroit-based manufacturer has announced a $500 cash allowance for the 1.3 million American owners of affected cars. Dealers have also been instructed to issue loaner vehicles to customers concerned with the safety of their cars. The cash allowance is good on any 2013 to 2015 model year vehicle from the GM family of brands.

"GM will not market or solicit owners using this allowance," said a notice posted by GM on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website, according to Automotive News. "We ask that you not market to or solicit these customers either. This allowance is not a sales tool; it is to be used to help customers in need of assistance."

The announcement was originally made on March 4, but the story broke today, shortly after The Detroit News discovered that the replacement part in the Chevy Cobalt and HHR, Pontiac G5 and Solstice, and Saturn Ion and Sky costs just $2 to $5 and could be replaced in just a few minutes. The cost of the new ignition switch was discovered in the report of a JP Morgan analyst.

"We learned from Delphi's sell-side dinner Monday that actual cost to manufacture a replacement part could be as little as $2 to $5 each, and that labor costs to install the part would likely be low as well, considering it can be swapped out in a matter of minutes," said analyst Ryan Brinkman's report. According to a separate report from RBC Capital Markets, the total cost of the warranty work could hit $80 million. Repairs are expected to start in April, according to CNN.

Public sentiment, meanwhile, is (rightly, perhaps) swinging against GM. AN reports on safety advocates Clarence Ditlow and Joan Claybrook, two vocal critics of GM's handling of this recall. Ditlow and Claybrook have now called on the manufacturer to create a $1 billion trust to compensate the victims of the 31 crashes, which included 13 deaths, due to the faulty ignition switches.

"By concealing the ignition key defect for at least 10 years, GM created more victims and then robbed them of their legal rights through the passage of time," said Ditlow and Claybrook in a letter to GM's CEO, Mary Barra, obtained by AN. While there's some truth to their statement, Ditlow and Claybrook seem to forget one important fact: GM isn't necessarily liable for incidents and decisions made before its bankruptcy. GM's official response to Ditlow and Claybrook said as much.

"GM is focused on ensuring the safety and peace of mind of our customers involved in the recall. It is true that new GM did not assume liability for claims arising from incidents or accidents occurring prior to July 2009. Our principle throughout this process has been to the put the customer first, and that will continue to guide us."

Ditlow and Claybrook's letter to Barra does highlight an interesting part of this whole dilemma for GM, in that the company's newest CEO has had something of a baptism by fire. Besides a reportedly tough launch of the new Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra, Barra has been faced with this recall.

"The probe into the GM ignition switch problem is continuing to snowball with questions swirling about how much GM and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration knew about the issue and when they learned it," Kelley Blue Book senior market analyst, Jack Nerad, told Autoblog. "Some nine years have elapsed since the initial reports, begging those questions. Now with potential blood in the water, there is a gathering of interested parties to investigate potential regulatory and criminal misconduct." Ditlow and Claybrook are two such parties.

It's easy enough for GM to shy away from the matter, though. GM is, as we said, not liable under the law for things that were done before bankruptcy. Nerad points out, though, that it's still highly beneficial for GM to sort this mess out as quick as possible.

"While the issue does not seem to have had much effect on current GM vehicle sales, the company must come to a quick and satisfying resolution of the issue to assure that it won't be tainted by sins of the past," Nerad said. "The fact that GM was rescued by the American taxpayers makes a resolution that is satisfactory to the average person on the street even more imperative than if such an issue arose in another company."

General Motors' ignition switch problem goes back even farther than first imagined. In a statement that the automaker submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, it said that it found a case of the faulty ignition switch going back to 2001 in a pre-production Saturn Ion (pictured above). Previously, the earliest known affected vehicles were from 2004.

NHTSA received the GM letter on March 11, and it came as part of the timeline it released to explain the widened recall. The report includes a case of a pre-production Ion where engineers found a problem with the ignition switch's "passlock" system. The engineers diagnosed it as "low detent plunger force," and a design change fixed the issue.

The same report documents a case in 2003 where a service technician was driving an Ion, and the car stalled. The mechanic said: "'[t]he owner had several keys on the key ring,' and stated that '[t]he additional weight of the keys had worn out the ignition switch,'" according to the letter. The worker replaced the vehicle's ignition switch.

GM said that it received customer complaints to its warranty and technical assistance offices around this time of customers not being able to start their vehicles, and some of these included reports of stalling.

For the Ion alone, GM says in the new report that it has found eight frontal crashes of 2003-2007 models where the ignition switch fault may have played a role. Among these accidents, there were four fatalities and six injuries. It also has evidence of three frontal impacts of 2006-2007 Chevrolet HHRs where the switch might have been responsible, and they resulted in three injuries.

This latest letter to NHTSA comes in addition to the 107 questions the automaker has to answer for the regulator by April 7. The company is also facing a hearing before the US House Energy and Commerce Committee, but a date hasn't been set yet. The entire 10-page letter can be viewed as a PDF here. Much of the new information comes on page nine.

Summary:
On April 26, 2013, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE13-009 to investigate 10 complaints alleging incidents of sudden coolant loss while traveling on public roadways in certain model year (MY) 2001 through 2007 Porsche 911 vehicles. The complaints alleged that pipe ends joined by epoxy to certain cooling system components may fail suddenly and separate, resulting in large volumes of coolant leakage. The investigation was opened to assess evidence of a design or manufacturing defect in the coolant pipe fittings and any related safety consequences. In response to ODI?s Information Request letter, Porsche identified a manufacturing quality issue with the supplier?s application of adhesive to coolant pipe fittings that resulted in elevated failure rates in approximately 6,800 early production 997 generation vehicles (MY 2007 and early MY 2008). ODI?s analysis of field data showed that the age-adjusted failure rate for these vehicles was approximately six times greater than MY 2001 through 2005 996 generation vehicles and MY 2008 through 2011 997 generation vehicles built after a process improvement for adhesive application was implemented by the supplier. Most of the leak complaints reviewed by ODI did not appear to involve complete separation of the fittings and many were detected when the vehicle was parked. There were no crashes or injuries reported to be related to the alleged defect in any of the subject vehicles. ODI identified two allegations that coolant leakage resulted in loss of control incidents, but neither involved vehicles affected by the assembly process quality issue. A third loss of control allegation involving a vehicle built during the period affected by the supplier process concern is not counted since ODI was unable to contact the owner to confirm the incident. See the full closing resume in the document file for PE13-009 for additional information about the subject cooling system and ODI?s analysis of field data related to the alleged defect. A safety-related defect has not been identified at this time and further use of agency resources does not appear to be warranted. Accordingly, this investigation is closed. The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect does not exist. The agency will monitor this issue and reserves the right to take further action if warranted by the circumstances.

Graco, the carseat manufacturer that recalled 3.8 million toddler and booster seats back in February has just added an extra 403,000 seats to its recall. That's arguably not the big news, though - the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wants a further 1.8 million infant seats added to the recall.

The original recall plus the 403,000 additional units cover a number of Graco seats for older children that face the safety campaign because they have buckles that may not release. According to reports, some parents were forced to cut their kids out of the faulty seats. According to a NHTSA documents obtained by ​The Detroit News, the additional units include the 2006 through 2014 Argos 70 Elite, Ready Ride, Step 2, My Ride 65 with Safety Surround, My Size 70, Head Wise 70 with Safety Surround, Nautilus 3-in-1, Nautilus Plus, and Smart Seat with Safety Surround.

As for why NHTSA wants the infant seats recalled, it's a slightly more difficult issue. Yes, as NHTSA says, the buckles are the same. Graco argues, however, that the infant seats are used differently, according to The News. The manufacturer also argues that in the event of an emergency, parents can simply remove the entire seat from the car - the same can't easily be done with the toddler and booster seats.

According to Kicking Tires, the primary issue with the buckles is that food and drink could gum up the mechanism, preventing it from opening. Owners of affected seats will be sent repair kits with instructions on how to safely clean the buckles, although Graco claims the seats are safe to use in the meantime.

Toyota has filed a petition with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration asking for a waiver to avoid recalling about 206,271 2012–2014 Camry, Avalon, Corolla, Sienna, Tundra and Tacoma vehicles, some of its most popular models. The affected vehicles contain seat heaters that might not meet government flammability standards. Toyota says in the waiver that "the chance of fire or flame induced by a malfunctioning seat heater is essentially zero," according to The Detroit News. The automaker notes the part makes up less than one percent of the seat's weight.

Initial reports of the problem arose in late January when Toyota issued a stop-sale order for 2013 and 2014 model year versions of those vehicles. The automaker says that there have no been reports of fires or injuries in the affected cars, and the problem was discovered during testing by the South Korean government, according to The Detroit News.

The General Motors ignition switch recall appears to be rapidly spiraling out of control. A new report analyzing federal crash data suggests that there weren't only 12 or 13 people killed after their GM vehicle's ignition inadvertently switched off, disabling the airbags. No, the new figure could be 303. And that's just on two of the six recalled models, the Chevrolet Cobalt and Saturn Ion, so the figure could grow.

The review of the crash data was done by Friedman Research Corporation, which looked at airbag failures in GM vehicles between 2003 and 2012 (despite reports of issues back in 2001). According to The New York Times, the review only looked at cases where the airbags failed to deploy – it didn't analyze the actual causes of the crashes.

Still, it's a troubling development, which if proven correct would mean this latest safety issue easily surpasses the 27 deaths attributed to Ford Pinto fires and the estimated 271 fatalities blamed on the Ford Explorer/Firestone tire debacle.

Meanwhile, Automotive News reports on trial lawyers smelling blood in the water. Litigators are looking to line up clients that have been affected by the recall, with one lawyer even saying he was planning to challenge post-bankruptcy GM's immunity to issues that happened before a federal bailout.

"If you are aware of potential exposure to litigation and you don't reveal it, that's fraud," said Bob Hilliard, a Texas-based lawyer representing the families of a pair of Wisconsin teens killed in a Cobalt crash in 2006. "I'm going to go back to that bankruptcy judge and say, 'You have to undo this, the liability of old GM, because it was the new GM's continued coverup after the bankruptcy that allowed people to be hurt or killed.'"

Automotive News spoke to Chip Bowles, a bankruptcy lawyer, about Hilliard's attempt to reopen the case and remove new GM's immunity. Bowles told the site Hilliard would need to prove that old GM willingly deceived US Bankruptcy Judge Robert Gerber.

Actually doing that, though, may prove very difficult, with Bowles adding, "Lots of luck there, friend."