The airbag. The one thing that is supposed to protect us while operating a vehicle. With all these recalls FCA, Fiat/Chrysler , seems to be hit the hardest and with the former back to back Motor Trend Truck of the Year Ram, I think I’ll buy a Chevy.
This recall may not be of GM style but it massacres the previous record in this airbag recall saga. 500,000 Rams from 2009 to 2012 have to to be bought back by FCA. They also are facing a fine of somewhere around $105 million dollars. While those are large numbers the next little detail will send y’all over the edge.
Let’s speak in hypotheticals. Let’s say a 2010 Ram 1500 has a current trade in value at 25k (with 70k on the clock, in good condition, with a few added features from a trim package). In a perfect world or at least a non-fancy world, that would mean that FCA would have to shell out, roughly 12.5 billion to buy back all of the trucks. However, we live in a fancy world and that means that number that I mentioned is nowhere close to the potential number. The Ram 1500, 2500, 3500, 4500, 5500 are all included and with varying features, mileage, trim packages, etc…this could be a hot stanky mess for FCA.
There are others included in the recall such as the Durango/Aspen and Dakota, but when looking at sheer numbers the Ram outsells those vehicles by numbers that are unimpressive when compared to the recall/buy back cost.
All I can say I is this, FCA is in for a long ride due to the airbag recalls. Hopefully, the associated label that comes with mass recalls doesn’t effect the sales of Ram trucks. Although this is a mess, surely FCA will “Ram” through the issue and survive…as long as the airbags deploy.
