Ford is on a roll with its recalls. On Friday, the company announced its third major recall involving nearly 700,000 late model Escapes and C-MAXes.
In a statement obtained by Bloomberg, Ford says it is recalling a total of 627,275 Escape sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and 65,192 C-MAX gas-electric hybrids. The recall involves 2013 and 2014 models and concerns car owners in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The SUVs were built at the Louisville Assembly plant between October 2011 and February 2014, while the C-MAX hybrids were built from January 2012 to February 2014.
The recall is due to a software defect that prevents the side curtain airbags from inflating in the event of a rollover crash. Ford says no reports of crashes, injuries or deaths have been made. Dealers will also reprogram the vehicles free of charge.
"Ford is committed to providing our customers with top quality vehicles. We are equally committed to addressing potential issues and responding quickly for our customers," says Ford spokesperson Kelli Felder.
Ford also made a separate recall of all the Escapes involved in the airbag software glitch along with 65,000 other Escape models that were built in March and April. The second recall is due to a problem with exterior door handles that will not latch properly, causing the doors to open while driving or in the case of an accident.
Ford also says that no crashes were reported due to this problem and will repair door handles for all owners of the said Escape models at no cost to the customer.
Ford announced its first recall of the Escape SUV in November last year, when the company found a fire hazard in the form of a defective fuel line that could chafe and leak. Five months after, Ford again recalled nearly 350,000 Escapes from model years 2001 to 2004 due to concerns of lower control arm failure.
Car-makers have recalled around 13 million vehicles this year alone and are expected to break its 2004 record of 30.8 million recalls.
General Motors is currently in the process of recalling 2.59 million vehicles, including its Chevrolet Cobalt and Saturn Ion, over concerns that a faulty ignition switch can cause airbag failure. The company reports at least 13 deaths due to the ignition defect, but trial lawyers have filed 53 wrongful death claims with the U.S. courts. Nissan also recalled almost 1 million vehicles in March also due to the possibility of airbag failure caused by software that can incorrectly classify a passenger's seat as empty.
