Chrysler recalls 840,000 vehicles worldwide

Chrysler Group LLChas recalled 840,000 vehicles in the United States, Canadaand other countries, mostly for active-restraint headrests that are possibly flawed.

Five separate recalls include nearly 500,000 cars and SUVs for the active-restaint head rest issue, and another 282,000 minivans for possible malfunctioning air bags, Chrysler said.

While Chrysler has improved its scores on third-partyquality assessments such as Consumer Reports in recent years, it has issued 12 separate recalls since early June involving about 4 million vehicles. This figure includes 2.7 million older Jeep models Chryslerrecalled after initially resisting U.S. regulators from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Chrysler spokesman Eric Mayne said the recalls are "anindication of our aggressive quality-control protocol."

Chrysler said there have been three reported accidents and one "minor" injury as a result of the air bag issue in the minivans and that it is not aware of any injuries or accidents related to the head rest issue.

Most of the affected vehicles are in the United States.

Included in the recalls announced on Wednesday are about490,000 cars and SUVs that have potentially faulty micro-computer components for head rests that are designed to move forward during rear-end crashes.

The recall affects:

• 2011-2013 Chrysler Sebring, Chrysler 200, Dodge Avenger and Jeep Liberty.
• 2011-2012 Dodge Nitro SUVs.

"The potentially faulty microcontrollers were installed in asupplied component," Chrysler said in a statement. "They entered the supply chain after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan caused a worldwide microcontroller shortage."

The maker of the component was TRW Automotive Holdings Corp., according to papers filed by Chrysler with U.S. safetyregulators.

Chrysler will fix the vehicles by upgrading a power module or the "occupant restraint control module," the automaker said in papers filed with NHTSA.

The recall affects 442,000 vehicles in the United States, 25,000 in Canada, 10,000 in Mexico and 12,000 outside North America.

Some 282,000 model year 2013 minivansin the United States, Canada, Mexico and outside North America are to be recalled because a side air bag software component was not programmedproperly, which could affect proper deployment, Chrysler said.

Following a customer complaint, Chrysler Group launched an investigation that determined the affected minivans are equipped with a component inadvertently programmed to deploy side airbags on the opposing side of the vehicle. Side airbags are intended to deploy on the side of the vehicle that corresponds with the impact.

Front-row airbags that deploy from the steering wheel and passenger-side dashboard are unaffected.

Affected models are 2013 Dodge Caravan, Chrysler Town and Country and Ram Cargo Van.

Two smaller recalls announced Wednesday affect 1,060 commercial vans and 226 minivans. Most of which arestill in dealer hands, for issues that have not led to any accidents or injuries, Chrysler said.

The campaign, which is limited to the Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Townand Country models, involves 184 vehicles in the U.S.; 40 in Canada and two in Mexico.

Approximately 180 of the vehicles are in dealer hands. Chrysler Group will notify affected customers and replace the modules at no cost, the company said.

In another recall announced on Wednesday, Chrysler said 69,000 of its 2013 Ram 1500 pickup trucks with all-wheel drive may have an electronic stability control software glitch.

Chrysler said it has received a "small amount" of reports from dealers that the electronic stability control lamp was illuminated, indicating that the system was disabled.

There have been no reported accidents or injuries related tothis issue, Chrysler said.

In the Ram 1500 recall, about 46,000 vehicles are in the United States, 21,000 in Canada, 1,400 in Mexico and 770 outside North America.