Milano Italy

For Release

January 26, 2011



Statement of Ralph Nader



The 1993-2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee is a modern day Pinto for soccer moms with a fuel tank located dangerously behind the rear axle in the crush zone of an impact. In the United States alone, there have been 184 fatal fire crashes in Jeep Grand Cherokees which have resulted in 269 deaths from 1993 through 2009. In 2005 during the merger with Daimler Benz, Chrysler moved the fuel tank forward of the rear axle to the safer location preferred by German engineers and used in Mercedes models. The unsafe location of the fuel tank is worsened by the dangerous position of the fuel filler hose. In 1993-1998 Grand Cherokees, the filler hose goes through the frame rail and is pulled out of the fuel tank as the frame rail bends upward at the hole for the filler hose in a rear crash. In 1999-2004 Grand Cherokees, Chrysler relocated the filler hose under a redesigned solid frame rail and now the filler hose pulls out of the filler neck at the top rather than the fuel tank at the bottom. The plastic fuel tank itself is vulnerable to puncture from sharp objects in the crush zone of a rear impact crash.


Continue reading "Statement on Jeep Grand Cherokee Recall"