BREAKING: Fiat-Chrysler Under-Reported Recalled Vehicle Deaths, Regulators Say

Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles vastly under-reported the number of deaths in accidents involving nearly 11 million recalled vehicles and potentially faces new fines, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Tuesday.

NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind called FCA’s failure to accurately report the deaths and injuries a “significant failure,” the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News are reporting.

“FCA has informed NHTSA that in investigating that discrepancy, it has found significant under-reported notices and claims of deaths, injuries and other information required as part of the Early Warning Reporting system,” Rosekind said. “Preliminary information suggests that this under-reporting is the result of a number of problems with FCA’s systems for gathering and reporting EWR data. This represents a significant failure to meet a manufacturer’s safety responsibilities.”

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The disclosure came about two months after the automaker agreed to pay fines of up to $105 million for its handling of the recall issue.

FCA, whose North American operations are based in Auburn Hills, said in a statement that it discovered the deficiencies in its reporting of death and injury reports as a result of heightened scrutiny as a result of the consent order. The company said it takes the issue “extremely seriously.”

“FCA US promptly notified NHTSA of these issues, and committed to a thorough investigation, to be followed by complete remediation,” according to the statement.

The NHTSA said it would “take appropriate action after gathering additional information on the scope and causes of this failure,” which could mean additional fines will be imposed — as the federal regulatory agency had promised to do if additional problems were discovered during the course of its investigation of Fiat Chrysler’s recall process.

The NHTSA’s tough line comes after a week of blows to the auto industry, including a $900 million settlement with General Motors over deadly ignition switch failures and Volkswagen’s admission that it had intentionally circumvented smog reduction standards on more than 11 million diesel vehicles sold in the United States.

Meeting last week with auto industry chieftains in Novi, Rosekind put them on notice that regulators are “questioning everything” in the wake of the Volkswagen scandal and other recalls.