FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne testified that he believes the rear-mounted fuel tanks on Jeeps are safe.
Fiat Chrysler lost its bid to overturn a $40 million verdict granted to the parents of a 4-year-old boy killed in the fiery crash of a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee.
A Georgia appellate court found in favor of the plaintiffs, rejecting FCA’s argument that certain evidence was wrongly allowed and the award resulted from prejudice based on that evidence.
The Court of Appeals of Georgia concluded that a lower court judge did not err by allowing the parents of Remington Walden to present evidence of instances of other fires to support their claims.
A Georgia jury awarded the boy’s parents $150 million. The judge later reduced the award to $40 million to the family of the boy who had burned to death in a Grand Cherokee after a rear-end collision. The jury found Fiat Chrysler LLC’s rear-positioned fuel tank in the Jeep posed a fire risk and killed the child.
(FCA appealing $150 million verdict in Georgia. Click Here for the story.)
The jury ruled that Chrysler acted with reckless disregard for human life in selling the 1999 Jeep with a gas tank mounted behind the rear axle.
FCA recalled 1993-2004 Jeep Grand Cherokees to repair issues with the fuel tanks.
The 2015 verdict came two years after Chrysler compromised with a federal safety agency and agreed to a scaled-down recall of some older-model Jeeps with the rear-mounted tanks. The tanks have little structure to protect them if struck from behind, making them susceptible to punctures and fires.
At least 75 people have died in post-crash fires because of the rear-mounted fuel tanks, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
After a nine-day trial, the Georgia Jury found that Chrysler was 99% at fault and the pickup driver was 1% at fault. Jurors also determined that Chrysler failed to warn the family of the hazards of driving the Jeep.
(Chrysler ordered to pay $150 million due to Jeep fire. For more, Click Here.)
FCA argued it was prevented from presenting data submitted to federal safety regulators showing that the vehicles did not pose an unreasonable safety risk.
During the 2015 trial, Fiat Chrysler Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne defended the safety of Jeep products. He also denied trying to prevent top federal regulators from finding a safety defect in older Jeeps with rear-positioned fuel tanks. Instead, he argued that the vehicles are safe, in a recorded deposition that was played for Georgia jurors during the wrongful death trial.
The automaker firmly believes the older Jeep SUVs with gas tanks located behind the rear axle are no more susceptible to fires than other SUVs, Marchionne said.
“Our analysis of that data suggested these were defect-free vehicles, and that they performed exactly as the rest of the comparative class performed in the marketplace at the time. Our analysis suggests very clearly that this is not a defect,” Marchionne said in recorded deposition.
(To see more about Marchionne defending the safety of Jeeps in court, Click Here.)
Under government pressure, Fiat Chrysler recalled an estimated 1.56 million 2002-07 Jeep Liberty and 1993-2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs for the problem in June 2013, and agreed to install trailer hitches to protect the gas tanks. In an abundance of caution, it sent letters to 2.27 million owners, though it is not clear how many are still on the road.