FCA bedeviled again by shifters

Shifting a vehicle from park into gear and back again is among the most basic of driver functions, akin to learning how to use the brakes.

Yet, for the second time in less than 18 months, federal safety regulators are investigating why drivers of some Fiat Chrysler vehicles are having problems getting their cars to get into or stay in park.

In April, FCA recalled 1.1 million vehicles equipped with a vexing European-style three-position shifter that, according to a lawsuit, led to the June death of Star Trek actor Anton Yelchin. Now in safety investigators' cross-hairs: the four-stop rotary dial shifter FCA began using in 2012 to make more room in the center console of its best-selling Ram 1500 pickup.

New electronic shifter controls may have freed automotive interior designers' creativity to package their cockpits in interesting ways, but the rapid move away from the gated PRNDL shifter seems to have left consumers dangerously confused.

FCA is not the only automaker facing scrutiny on its shifters. Safety regulators say they also are investigating rollaway complaints from Jaguar Land Rover and have received scores of similar complaints from consumers involving a variety of other automakers.

For FCA, the stakes are high. The auto-maker already migrated the rotary dial shifter from the half-ton pickup to several other vehicles, including the Dodge Durango and the entire Chrysler lineup -- including the new Pacifica minivan.

This month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched an official investigation into 1 million 2013-16 Ram 1500s and 2014-16 Durangos equipped with the rotary shifter. The government is studying the shifters FCA uses to see whether they are responsible for more than two dozen reports of unintended rollaways -- some involving injuries. NHTSA said nine alleged injuries had been reported and urged drivers to set the parking brake before exiting the vehicles. 

The issues may or may not involve an equipment malfunction. Driver error -- or perhaps driver unfamiliarity with the operation of new shifter designs -- may be a cause, analysts say. 

Automakers have been freed to redesign the gear shifter mechanism by the industry's decadeslong move to electronically controlled transmissions instead of those with mechanical linkages. Since an electronic signal to shift can come from anywhere and doesn't have to be mechanically linked to the transmission, designers have been able to change both the style and locations of shifters. 

"One of the things we always run into when you're redesigning something that has been the same for years is the real-world learning curve with consumers," said Rebecca Lindland, senior analyst with KBB.com. "Somebody that isn't familiar with the product is naturally going to test its safety limits."

In April, FCA recalled 1.1 million Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs and Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger sedans equipped with the eight-speed automatic transmission operated by a European-style monostable shifter. The shifter was a new design, introduced on the 2012 Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger.

NHTSA said in June it had received reports of more than 268 crashes, including 68 injuries, involving those vehicles in which confused consumers failed to put the vehicle in park before exiting. 

The agency's investigation began nearly a year before Yelchin died June 19 of what the Los Angeles County coroner's office ruled was "blunt traumatic asphyxia" caused when his 2015 Grand Cherokee rolled backward and pinned him against a wall in his driveway. 

As part of the April recall, FCA agreed to install new software intended to prevent the vehicle from moving when the driver's side door is open and the transmission is not in park. Yelchin's Jeep was included in the recall but had not been repaired. 

FCA would not comment to Automotive News about the latest shifter investigation. FCA remains under the terms of an arduous three-year consent decree reached with the federal safety agency in 2015 that sought to improve the way the automaker identified potential safety issues and conducted recalls.

FCA introduced a rotary dial shifter in 2012 in the 2013 Ram 1500. The knurled shifter -- mounted vertically on the instrument panel to the right of the steering column -- freed up valuable real estate in the center console of the pickup, allowing designers more flexibility in the pickup's cabin. The four-position rotary shifter is well-detented and clearly marked, with an electronic gear position indicator featured prominently on the instrument cluster.

The rotary design also is used by other automakers, including Jaguar Land Rover. But it caught on at FCA and spread further across its lineup, just as Lincoln has broadened its use of an instrument-panel-mounted push-button shifter design on recent vehicles such as the MKC and Continental.

Dave Sullivan, an analyst with AutoPacific, said he has experienced not being in park when he thought the car he was driving was safe to exit. It happened with a 2017 Buick LaCrosse, which has a lever shifter but requires a button to be pushed to engage park.

"My first time driving it, I pushed the gear shifter forward out of habit, but it requires a button push to go into park.

"When I opened the door, the vehicle threw itself into park automatically," Sullivan said.

"Having driven these vehicles, there is a curve for drivers when learning to change your habits," Sullivan said. "That being said, there needs to be a fail-safe that puts the vehicle into park when the ignition is switched off or if the driver door is opened with the seat belt unbuckled."