The auto industry's recall fiasco isn't going to let up anytime soon, with the latest recall announcement coming from Ford, which is calling back more than 160,000 Focus ST hatchbacks and Escape crossovers.
The recall affects 2013 and 2014 models equipped with a 2.0-liter, turbocharged, four-cylinder engine. Ford spokesperson Kelli Felker says the recall is due to faulty engine wiring harnesses that were "insufficiently compressed." Felker says although the company knows no injury or casualty that has resulted from the defect, the problematic harnesses could send misguided signals to the powertrain control module or cause the engine to lose power and lead to a crash.
Majority of the affected vehicles, or around 133,000, are located in the United States, while another 25,000 are in Canada and Puerto Rico.
This is the eleventh recall involving Ford's Escape, one of the company's best-selling vehicles. No single model, however, has been involved in all eleven recalls.
The latest recall comes hot on the heels of another Ford call-back announced by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) involving more than 83,200 vehicles, including 2010 Lincoln MKX models and Ford Edge models from 2012 to 2014, as well as 2011 Lincoln MKT vehicles and Ford Flex and Lincoln MKS models from 2013-2014. The recall is due to an improperly installed halfshaft retention circlip, which can cause the halfshaft to disengage from the linkshaft at any moment.
"If the halfshaft and linkshaft become disengaged while driving, power will no longer be transmitted to the wheels, increasing the risk of a vehicle crash," says the recall summary on the NHTSA website. "Additionally, if the parking brake is not applied before exiting the vehicle, the vehicle may roll away despite the transmission being placed in 'Park'."
Ford says dealers will fix the affected vehicles for both recalls for free.
The company announced a total of 101,000 cars for recall in July. Earlier in May, Ford announced several recalls affecting up to 2.1 million vehicles with multiple problems, including faulty ignition switches, airbags and door handles.
However, Ford's numbers are merely a fraction of General Motors' more than 29 million vehicles recalled this year alone. The Detroit-based multinational car maker is in congressional and regulatory hot waters after it acknowledged that it had been aware of a fatally designed ignition switch that makes it harder to turn the vehicle off for 10 years. At least 13 deaths have officially been linked to the faulty ignition switches, but 63 death claims have so far been claimed by victim's families.
