Ford Recalls 680,000 Vehicles
Ford Motor Co. announced Friday a recall of 650,000 vehicles because of issues with seatbelts. The problem could mean that in the event of a crash, the seatbelt might not be able to properly restrain a passenger.
In its press release announcing the recall, Ford said it was aware of two injuries related to the issue. The problem could apparently allow important cables in the seatbelt to separate during a crash.
"In the affected vehicles, increased temperatures generated during deployment of the seat belt anchor pretensioner could cause pretensioner cables to separate, which may inadequately restrain an occupant in a crash, increasing risk of injury," Ford wrote.
The recall affects certain Ford Fusions, Ford Mondeos and Lincoln MKZs with model years between 2013 and 2016. Of the more than 680,000 affected vehicles, 602,739 are in the U.S., 35,615 in Canada, 8,665 in Mexico and 653 elsewhere.
Owners of affected vehicles will be notified, USA Today reported. To repair the issue, a Ford dealer will inject insulation to keep the cables from overheating at higher temperatures. The vehicle owner won't have to pay for the work.
There have been a number of recent recalls, reportedly costing automakers some $6.9 billion last year. Most notably, some 11 million Takata airbags have been recalled over the past two years affecting dozens of carmakers, including BMW, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota and Volkswagen. Safety officials in the U.S. have linked at least 11 deaths to the airbags, which can explode and send dangerous shrapnel flying. Some 70 million Takata airbags could be defective.
Outside of the large seatbelt recall, Ford also announced Friday a much smaller recall of 27 2017 Fusions. The company said it has to "replace the second-row left-rear seat back frame, which may have been built with improperly welded pivot pins." Ford said it was not aware of any injuries related to the issue, but that in the event of a crash the affected vehicles may not "adequately retain cargo," which increased that chance of injury.
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