Dive Brief:
- FCA US is recalling more than 65,000 Ram pickup trucks over a software error that may cause digital instrument panel cluster failures, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
- The recalled vehicles include certain model year 2025-2026 Ram 1500, 2500 and 3500 pickups, as well as Ram 3500, 4500 and 5500 Chassis Cab trucks. All of the recalled vehicles were built with IPCs with integrated 3.5-inch display screens and produced at various times between October 2023 and August 2025. Approximately 1% of the recall population is estimated to have the defect.
- Dealers will update the instrument panel software once a remedy is available, at no cost. Owner notification letters are scheduled to be mailed May 28.
Dive Insight:
The 3.5-inch display in the IPC may go blank without warning while driving, or fail to display at startup. The screen shows critical vehicle information to the driver, such as tire pressure, brake system warning lights and gear position. Without access to such information, drivers may operate the vehicle when it is unsafe to do so, increasing the risk of a crash, per the recall report.
On Jan. 21, FCA’s Technical Safety and Regulatory Compliance group began investigating reports of inoperable 3.5-inch IPC screens in some Ram pickups and Chassis Cab trucks. The IPCs were sourced from Michigan-based supplier Marelli North America.
Between January and March, the automaker’s compliance group met with FCA’s engineering and manufacturing departments to analyze the issue and understand its failure mode. The teams also studied engineering, manufacturing and repair records to identify the recall population.
On March 18, FCA’s Technical Safety and Regulatory Compliance group determined that a vehicle build issue was the cause of inoperative IPC display screens in the Ram models, per the report. FCA’s Vehicle Regulations Committee then approved the recall on April 2.
FCA informed its U.S. dealers in an April 16 letter that a software remedy to correct the problem is not yet available, but the automaker expects that an update will be released in the second quarter of the year.
The recall follows a similar FCA recall issued in December 2025 for roughly 72,000 model year 2025-2026 Ram pickup trucks and Chassis Cab trucks for blank 12-inch IPC displays due to a software error. The optional 12-inch digital instrument clusters were also sourced from Marelli North America.
