Jaguar Land Rover was aware of a potentially dangerous design flaw in Range Rover steering knuckles nearly six years ago but issued only limited recalls, according to an internal investigation. The UK carmaker redesigned the part without informing safety authorities, despite knowing of its continued susceptibility to failure. Fractures in the knuckles, which connect front wheels to the suspension and steering system, could cause drivers to lose control.
The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) filed on the issue, stating that JLR maintained there was “absence of evidence of a vehicle safety defect in any market” even as regulators questioned its explanations. JLR rejected “any suggestion that we knowingly failed to act on an identified safety defect,” emphasizing that safety is its highest priority. The company conducted voluntary recalls of some 2014–17 Range Rover and Range Rover Sport vehicles due to “a concern with relevant suspension components.” Owners of potentially affected vehicles “have been notified as appropriate,” JLR said, adding it “continues to engage with regulatory authorities.” NHTSA, part of the US Department of Transportation, widened its investigation in April to include newer vehicles beyond those covered by existing recalls, calling much of JLR’s information “contradictory.” “The safety of the driving public is our top priority, and we have zero tolerance for fraud,” the DoT told the FT. “NHTSA’s engineering analysis will involve a close review of both the automaker’s internal investigations and recall decision-making, as well as their part suppliers’ manufacturing processes.
We will not hesitate to take enforcement action against any company that has failed to follow basic safety rules.” JLR declined to comment on the DoT’s statement. Among owners of newer affected vehicles is Mark Dempsey from Tennessee, who was contacted by an NHTSA investigator in March after posting about his experience online. Having heard a clunking noise, he took his 2021 Range Rover to a dealer and was told not to drive it further.
He paid nearly $3,000 to repair the knuckle, which was not covered by existing recalls—where repairs were conducted for free. “This is potentially an extremely dangerous problem if this were to happen while you were driving down the road,” Dempsey said. NHTSA declined to comment on Dempsey’s case. JLR says it has received no reports of accidents, injuries, or fires as a result of the knuckle issue.
However, the probe could lead to wider recalls. If the fault spans all model years under scrutiny, the number of potentially affected vehicles worldwide could rise nearly eightfold to almost 1 million, according to people familiar with the matter. The issue adds to challenges facing JLR and its Indian owner Tata Motors.
JLR is cutting 10% of its workforce amid a painful restructuring, battling Chinese rivals on price, and recovering from a devastating cyber attack last year that disrupted production for months. JLR was aware of a potential knuckle problem as early as 2017, when it told its Russian distributor...
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing