Product safety 

Safeguarding drivers and all road users is the cornerstone of Fiat Group’s holistic approach to sustainable mobility. Thus, new ways of improving the active and passive safety standards of vehicles, as well as drawing on initiatives to promote responsible individual behavior, represent the foundation of a philosophy based on respect for human life. This is the commitment that customers deserve. Fiat Group’s commitment to sustainable mobility encompasses the design and development of vehicles capable of activating functions that aid in preventing accidents or – in the event of an unavoidable collision – that protect the occupants of the vehicle and other road users.

In 1976, Fiat Group Automobiles established its own Safety Center responsible for all crash test activities on vehicle systems (i.e., body frame, airbag and seat belts, seats, etc.). The design systems are tested virtually first, followed by full-scale crash tests and simulations with experimental tools such as the HyGe crash sled. Particular emphasis is given to aspects of compatibility between vehicles of different segments for front and side collisions, protection of the most vulnerable road users and integration of active and passive safety systems.

Similarly, the Chelsea Proving Grounds and Arizona Proving Grounds test Chrysler Group vehicles both for development and compliance. The Chelsea Proving Grounds conducts impact testing, crashing hundreds of vehicles each year and running thousands of computer simulations to verify the safety characteristics of all vehicles. More than six hundred such tests were conducted in 2011. Additionally, the Chrysler Group Automotive Research and Development Centre (ARDC) in Windsor, Canada, is home to the Lighting Research Facility, one of the largest of its kind in the world.