Ferrari North America has recalled 185 California T convertibles due to fire risk that may arise from fuel leaks.
The Italian sports car manufacturer produced the cars in question between Sept. 8 and Nov. 11. The cars have a low-pressure fuel line, which does not connect properly to the fuel-pump feed pipe. The U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says that this faulty connection results in fuel leaks that pose a fire risk.
The California Ts have a base price of more than $231,000. Over 50 Ferrari dealers received a stop sales notice of the California Ts in November 2015. Ferrari has notified all the affected car owners about the recall. All the 185 recalled car owners will get a free replacement of the low-pressure fuel assembly from Ferrari dealers.
An NHTSA filing suggests that the fuel leaks in the 2016 California Ts are a result of a manufacturing defect in a part that has been provided by a supplier. The recall began on Dec. 14.
Ferrari has also been hit by more recalls this year because of faulty airbags provided by Japanese supplier Takata. In July, the company recalled about 2,600 cars globally including 814 in North America, and it was due to faulty airbags.
"Ferrari North America, Inc. (FNA) is recalling certain model year 2015 Ferrari 458 Italia, 458 Spider, 458 Speciale, 458 Speciale A, California T, FF, F12 Berlinetta, and LaFerrari vehicles manufactured December 19, 2014, to April 29, 2015," read a July 2015 NHTSA filing.
The NHTSA filing added that the affected vehicles were equipped with a faulty airbag module at the driver side. The fault in the assembly of the airbag could cause the airbag to deploy in a rotated orientation, which increases the risk of injuries.
The recall of Ferrari vehicles due to faulty airbag started on Aug. 10, 2015 and owners of the affected cars were advised to take their cars to Ferrari dealers, who would replace the front Driver's Side Air Bag Module, free of charge.
Ferrari's airbag recall problem came amid a massive recall by other carmakers due to faulty airbags made by Takata. The defective airbags were also linked to eight deaths and over 100 injuries across different parts of the world.
Many international automakers including Germany-based BMW, American carmaker General Motors (GM), Japanese vehicle maker Honda and more recalled 34 million cars only in the U.S., which is the biggest recall in the history of car industry in the U.S.
However, Ferrari's recall due to faulty airbags was not similar to the recalls done by other carmakers.
"This issue is not related to the other recall made by other manufactures for Takata airbags," said a company spokesperson.
The latest Ferrari recalls due to fuel leaks is not as big as previous recalls made in this year. However, investors in the company will hope that the carmaker fixes the issue fast to avoid any serious accident.
Photo : Ben | Flickr
