The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sent a letter last week to Chrysler Group chairman and chief executive officer Sergio Marchionne describing what the agency deemed to be a “woeful” recall repair completion rate for older model SUVs whose fuel tanks may rupture if the vehicles are struck from behind.

The head of the automaker not only replied, but so did the OEM’s senior vice president vehicle safety and regulatory compliance, asserting Chrysler has made a much better effort to rectify the situation involving Jeep Liberty vehicles from the 2002 through 2007 model years and  Jeep Grand Cherokee units from the 1993 through 1998 model years.

First, here’s part of what NHTSA deputy administrator David Friedman said in a two-page letter to Marchionne stemming from what Chrysler shared in its October recall update reports. Friedman indicated the material to the agency showed “a woeful” 3-percent repair rate out of more than 1.5 million affected vehicles included in the recalls.

“As you know, we recently shared ideas for steps Chrysler could take to get more people to repair their vehicles,” Friedman said. “At the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s request, Chrysler submitted an update on its rear structural reinforcement efforts, including current and planned outreach activities.

“However, given the low rates of repair that Chrysler has reported more than a year after the recall, significantly more aggressive steps are required,” he continued.

Friedman closed his letter by saying, “It is your responsibility to notify affected owners that parts are available and to ensure that dealers are effectively and accurately communicating with their customers.

“In the strongest possible terms I urge you and your dealers to work together to ensure that the safety risk to vehicle owners from this defect is clearly communicated and effectively and expeditiously addressed,” Friedman added.

A day later, Marchionne told Friedman and NHTSA that “be assured Chrysler Group takes seriously its commitment to motor vehicle safety. Accordingly, I feel compelled to deliver up-to-date information that should alleviate your concerns.”

That information came by way of a three-page rundown from Scott Kunselman, who oversees recalls for Chrysler.

Kunselman refuted NHTSA’s assertions by noting the automaker’s data as of last Friday. He indicated of the 852,140 total affected Jeep Liberty vehicles, 112,829 have had the recall completed, equating to a 13.2 percent completion rate. And, of the 746,588 total affected Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles, 26,352 have had the recall completed, equating to a 3.5 percent completion rate.

While Kunselman acknowledged these completion rates “are not satisfactory” to Chrysler, he explained to regulators that historical data shows older vehicles experience a lower recall completion rate.

“Despite the challenge of recalling vehicles 7- to 21-years-old, Chrysler is committed to utilizing the outreach program across the entire affected vehicle population starting Dec. 1 in an attempt to reach every affected owner,” Kunselman said.

Since this campaign launched on Aug. 1, Kunselman told NHTSA that Chrysler has regularly communicated with its dealers and has twice requested each of its dealers to stock a minimum of seven parts for servicing Jeep Grand Cherokees, and five for Jeep Liberty models. The Chrysler exec said replenishment shipments are available on request in 48 hours or less, and warehouses are strategically located across the U.S. to effectively support on-time parts distribution.

Chrysler said more than 430,000 trailer-hitch assemblies are in the system, and 50,000 of these are currently in dealer inventories.

“As of Monday, all dealers will have inventory on site meeting or exceeding minimum requested requirements,” Kunselman said.

“The best evidence of the effectiveness of Chrysler's dealer communications and parts distribution network is the relative disappearance of customer inquiries related to parts,” he continued.

Prior to the Aug. 1 launch, the automaker indicated approximately 50 percent of customer inquiries to Chrysler's contact center related to these campaigns concerned parts availability.

Since Aug. 1, the ratio of these customer inquiries has dropped to 1 percent, according to the OEM.

“Also in its communications with dealers, the company has emphasized clearly the need to make the entire remedy process as convenient as possible for vehicle owners, and we will continue to emphasize this message,” Kunselman said.

Kunselman also reiterated that back on Oct. 21, representatives of Chrysler's vehicle safety office detailed for NHTSA the supplementary customer-outreach activities implemented, as well as those that are pending.

In addition to the outreach program, Chrysler’s pending actions include:

• Owner database enhancement (Dec. 8) will provide insights to identify the best channels such social media with which to provide supplemental information.

• Buy sponsored tiles for customer Facebook pages (Jan. 1)

• Distribution of a general public-service message reinforcing with customers the need to have recalls completed (Jan. 5)

• Enhance online presence with chat capability to answer questions and gather relevant feedback (Jan. 5)

Kunselman closed his update to NHTSA by pointing out how the age of some of these vehicles and the possible corrosion these units might have sustained is creating another challenge.

Due to the age of the vehicles, Chrysler expects that 3 percent to 6 percent of campaign vehicles would not be in a condition to support trailer hitch assembly installation as a result of accident damage, abuse, vehicle modification and/or corrosion.

Of the vehicles inspected to date, the OEM determined 0.6 percent have not received the repair due to accident damage, abuse, vehicle modification and/or corrosion.

Kunselman indicated Chrysler is currently studying this concern further and planned to follow up with NHTSA staff by Dec. 5.

“In conclusion, Chrysler is committed to working with NHTSA to improve customer understanding of the recall process and the need to have all affected vehicles repaired,” Kunselman said.