"Fiat Chrysler has repeatedly failed to notify owners about recalls in a timely manner," Jennifer Timian, acting director of defect investigators at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said at a NHTSA hearing on the automaker's recalls.

"Problems with the information that Fiat Chrysler reports - or in many cases, fails to report - to keep (regulators) apprised of its recalls obstructs our ability to carry out our statutory oversight responsibilities."

(Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)