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Fiat Chrysler slowly phases out cars with troublesome Takata airbag inflators

The company will stop putting non-desiccated inflators in vehicles globally by mid-September.

Andrew Krok Reviews Editor / Cars
Cars are Andrew's jam, as is strawberry. After spending years as a regular ol' car fanatic, he started working his way through the echelons of the automotive industry, starting out as social-media director of a small European-focused garage outside of Chicago. From there, he moved to the editorial side, penning several written features in Total 911 Magazine before becoming a full-time auto writer, first for a local Chicago outlet and then for CNET Cars.
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Fun fact: Even though Takata is recalling a whole host of airbags that act less like airbags and more like deadly shrapnel cannons, automakers are still producing vehicles that include these parts. Not all the parts are recalled yet, and they may not be, but some automakers are working to phase them out. Fiat Chrysler America's determined to do so, and as quickly as it can.

"FCA will cease NAFTA-market production of vehicles equipped with non-desiccated ammonium-nitrate Takata airbag inflators, by next week," the company said in a statement. "Global production is expected to end by mid-September."

Non-desiccated means the inflators do not contain a moisture-mitigating material. Excessive exposure to moisture is what causes Takata's airbag inflators to deploy with enough force to turn the part to shrapnel. It appears that using a desiccant permits the inflator to function as intended.

The final FCA product to include a non-desiccated inflator is the 2016 Jeep Wrangler. Cars sold with these pieces "will be identified for customers," the automaker said. The parts are not currently subject to a recall, but they might be in the future, and buyers will be informed of this. Despite the parts being totally fine for sale, the optics aren't exactly great.

Tens of millions of inflators have been recalled in the US, and more than 10 fatalities have been linked to the faulty parts, all because Takata wanted to save a few bucks and fudged data related to potential problems with its airbag components. Think about that for a minute.