Ford has issued a massive recall action for its top-selling U.S. model, the F-150 pickup truck, of which around 1.2 million units are involved. The move comes after Ford agreed in February to recall more than 150,000 F-150 vehicles built between 2004 and 2006 for possible airbag faults.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that Ford would increase the number of recalled trucks to 1.2 million, as a wiring fault could cause the airbag warning lamp to turn on and the airbag to deploy. The NHTSA said the fault caused airbags to deploy in 269 cases, injuring 98 people, some of them seriously.
Although Ford said it was not aware of any incidents related to this problem, it recommended F-150 owners to “seek service immediately for an airbag warning lamp that is illuminated.” Ford will notify clients in May to bring their cars to dealers, which will replace an airbag wire in the steering wheel in affected vehicles.
The entire operation will take less than half a day and will be free of charge. Ford first dealt with the problem in 2006 and 2007, when it made production changes to F-150 trucks in order to fix the airbag wiring and other issues.
The expanded recall announcement came after talks between Ford and NHTSA in Washington. “We are pleased that Ford shares our commitment to safety and is taking action to protect consumers,” the NHTSA said. The safety agency also revealed the recall action involves 16,000 Lincoln Mark LT vehicles built in 2006 which share the same problem.
By Dan Mihalascu
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