Chrysler Recalls 350,000 Vehicles to Fix Faulty Ignition Switches

The Chrysler Group has ordered a recall of about 350,000 vehicles from the 2008 model year to fix faulty ignition switches that may cause vehicles to stall.

The affected vehicles include the Dodge Charger and Magnum, Chrysler 300 and Jeep's Grand Cherokee and Commander models.

The recall affects about 292,000 vehicles in the US, 19,000 in Canada, 5,000 in Mexico and 33,300 vehicles outside North America, reports said.

Chrysler, owned by Italy's Fiat, said it knows of no injuries or deaths related to the recall but acknowledged that it knows of one reported "minor" crash.

The problems are similar to the ignition defects documented in over a million other Chrysler vehicles and the more than 16 million General Motors (GM) vehicles this year.

Chrysler said the ignition switch, in some cases, can move out of the "on" position and go to "accessory" or "off" positions, which could kill the engine and prevent the front air bags from deploying.

A more likely occurrence in the affected vehicles is that the ignition key may not fully return to the "on" position from "start", possibly preventing the defroster and the windshield wipers from working. Air bags, however, will continue to work if that happened.

The recall comes just weeks after US safety regulators said they were probing some 160,000 Dodge Caravan minivans following reports of engine stalling.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said that its Office of Defects Investigation was examining "the scope, frequency and safety consequences" of suspected engine stalling after refuelling in the Chrysler vans.

In July, Chrysler recalled 792,300 Jeep Commander and Grand Cherokee SUVs from the 2005, 2006 and 2007 model years to fix their ignition switches.

In 2011, Chrysler recalled 196,000 Dodge Journey SUVs and Dodge Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country minivans from the 2007 through 2009 model years for the same issue.