Jeep owners should take immediate action to avoid huge risk

Stellantis is in the midst of a turnaround that began when new CEO Antonio Filosa took the helm about a year ago.

Since then, Stellantis has announced a $70 billion plan to turn its fortunes around, while the multinational automaker says it will refocus on the U.S. market after years of neglect.

Jeep and Ram are now seen as "global brands" along with Fiat and Peugeot. Stellantis' other 10 brands are now being called "regional."

However, on Tuesday, one of Stellantis' global brands, Jeep, had to issue a recall over a dangerous issue that could cause fires.

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Stellantis recalls 1.3 million Jeeps over fire hazard

On Tuesday, Stellantis announced a recall of more than 1.3 million Jeep SUVs and trucks worldwide due to fire concerns.

The recall includes 1.08 million vehicles in the U.S., 106,000 in Canada, 23,000 in Mexico and about 125,000 in other markets.

Emphasizing the immediacy of the threat, the company is also telling owners of these vehicles to park them outside and away from structures or other vehicles until they are repaired to address the fire hazard.

Stellantis is recalling model year 2021-2025 Jeep Wrangler SUVs and Jeep Gladiator trucks due to an electrical connection issue in the electric-hydraulic power steering pump wiring.

In rare circumstances, the wiring could cause combustible materials to overheat, potentially leading to a vehicle fire.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Stellantis says it is aware of customer assistance records and field reports of at least 72 fires that may be tied to the issue. That report also lists one injury.

Stellantis says it began investigating the fire issue in 2023 and early 2024, but closed the investigation due to a low fire rate, according to Reuters.

But it reopened the investigation in August 2024 after receiving additional reports of incidents involving Wrangler and Gladiator vehicles.

It took them about a year to determine the root cause before testing in May, which determined that it was time to issue the recall.

Stellantis says it anticipates a recall fix by July, but in the meantime, don't park your vehicle under or next to anything flammable.

NHTSA annual report shows millions of recalled vehicles have not been fixed

Millions of Americans are driving around in recalled vehicles that were never fixed, according to NHTSA data.

Between 2015 and 2024, approximately 12 million vehicles were recalled due to safety defects that could prevent airbags from deploying. Approximately 22% of the affected vehicles, or 2.6 million, remain unfixed, according to data analyzed by The Wall Street Journal.

The Journal found 12 people who died in crashes in one of those vehicles.

Approximately 69% of recalled vehicles were repaired in 2024, meaning that nearly a third of all vehicle recalls went unaddressed by car owners.

"NHTSA focuses on those areas proven to save lives and where we have authority to take effective action, including finding vehicle defects and ensuring manufacturers launch recalls," a spokesman for NHTSA said.

"The agency does not have statutory authority to force consumers to fix their recalled vehicles."

Related: Stellantis sees major shift in Ram 1500, Jeep customer behavior

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This story was originally published June 10, 2026 at 5:07 AM.