FCA’s ‘Confusing’ Shifter Heads Toward Classwide Issues Trial

Dodge, Jeep, and Chrysler vehicle owners presented sufficient evidence to proceed to trial against FCA US LLC on the existence of a defect in a monostable gearshift design that drivers called “confusing” and “difficult” in pre-release focus groups, a federal court in Michigan said.

The classwide trial will address the defect question and two related issues, but won’t determine Fiat Chrysler’s liability for auto purchasers’ economic losses. It will begin Sept. 6, Judge David M. Lawson said Monday for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

In a separate opinion docketed April 1, Lawson disagreed with FCA’s ...