The shifter had been blamed for risk of rollaway in 1.2 million vehicles, but after a seven-year investigation NHTSA found Stellantis has adequately addressed the issue.
UPDATE 1/29/2024: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has closed its investigation into complaints of rollaway after launching a probe in late 2016 of 1.2 million 2013–2017 Ram 1500 pickup trucks and 2014–2017 Dodge Durango SUVs. This means the vehicles will not be recalled. After the seven-year investigation, NHTSA determined that automaker Stellantis has adequately addressed the issue by offering to install AutoPark on the subject vehicles at no charge. This feature, a Stellantis spokesman told Car and Driver, “automatically activates park if the driver attempts to exit when the vehicle is not actually in park.” NHTSA’s summary, dated January 25, 2024, said there had been a total of 1448 reports of incidents, involving 149 injuries and one fatality, because the vehicle was reported to have moved “after the operator allegedly shifted the transmission to park and exited the vehicle.” It concludes that equipping vehicles with AutoPark was found to be “effective in reducing the frequency of vehicle rollaway incidents in the subject vehicles” and that the agency “was unable to find an actionable defect that caused vehicle rollaway incidents.” Stellantis told C/D that “nearly 1.2 million customers” have taken the free upgrade to add AutoPark to their vehicles.
From 2016: Federal safety regulators are investigating 2013–2016 Ram 1500 trucks and 2014–2016 Dodge Durango SUVs with electronic rotary transmission shifters in response to complaints that some vehicles rolled away after the shifters were put into park.
The investigation covers about 1 million vehicles. There were no rollaway incidents when the vehicles’ parking brakes were engaged, according to documents from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Defects Investigation.
Nine injuries and 25 crashes were alleged among the 43 complaints filed with the ODI.
“FCA US is cooperating fully with NHTSA’s investigation, the scope of which is limited,” company spokesman Eric Mayne said in an email. “Other vehicles equipped with rotary shifters are not included. In accordance with prudent practice, the Company joins NHTSA in urging all drivers to use their vehicles’ parking brakes.”
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The shifter involved in the ODI’s investigation is different from the electronic “Monostable” shifter at the heart of a global recall of more than 1.1 million FCA vehicles. Supplied by ZF, that eight-speed transmission’s shifter is in certain 2012–2014 Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300 cars and in 2014–2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs. Federal regulators say complaints link that shifter to at least 68 injuries and 266 crashes.
