Ford Recalls Select Vehicles In North America

Ford Motor Co. called back a total of 155,890 vehicles in two safety recalls in North America. The first recall involves 154,224 vehicles for obsolete driver or passenger Takata airbag inflator or module potentially installed during collision or theft repairs after the Takata recall was completed. The second recall involves 1,666 Ford Bronco Sport vehicles, recalled for faulty rear suspension modules.

In the first recall, 153,107 Ford Ranger Model 2004-06 trucks were called back for airbag inflator replacement, if necessary. These included 144,340 in the U.S. and federal territories, 8,762 in Canada and five in Mexico.

The second-largest U.S. automaker said these vehicles had the Takata recall permanent repair performed before the service parts were purged after the Takata recall. It added that it is possible that these obsolete Takata service parts were installed for repairs after collision damage or theft.

The first recall also involves 1,117 vehicles with collision repairs that may have been done with an obsolete service part after the Takata recall was completed. These include certain 2004-11 Ford Ranger, 2005-14 Ford Mustang, 2006 Ford GT, 2008-12 Ford Fusion, 2009-11 Mercury Milan, 2010-12 Lincoln MKZ, 2007-10 Ford Edge and 2007-10 Lincoln MKX vehicles.

Ford said it identified that certain Takata airbag modules were not purged from service stock after the parts for the permanent service fix became available. Ford could not account for some of the obsolete Takata service parts, indicating they may have been installed on vehicles as part of collision or theft repairs.

However, Ford confirmed that it is not aware of any reports of accident or injury related to this issue.

In the second recall, 1,666 recently delivered 2021 Ford Bronco Sport vehicles were called back as the rear suspension modules of these vehicles may not be fully secured to the subframe. These include 1,640 vehicles in the U.S. and federal territories, 24 in Canada and two in Mexico.

Ford warned that rear suspension modules with loose or missing bolts may affect the vehicle’s stability, increasing risk of an accident, and may result in reduced rear impact crash performance, increasing the risk of injury.

However, Ford said it is not aware of any accidents or injuries related to this condition. These new vehicles were built in Mexico at Hermosillo Stamping and Assembly Plant between July 22 and November 24, 2020.

On January 20, Ford Motor was required by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or NHTSA to recall around 3 million vehicles of models from 2006 to 2011, including Ford Ranger and Fusion, to remove potentially defective Takata air bag inflators.

The Takata airbag inflators have reportedly caused the death of around 27 people and injuries to around 400 people worldwide. The issues have resulted in the biggest auto recall in the U.S. history, with around 19 vehicle manufacturers recalling millions of vehicles worldwide so far.

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