Ford has revealed that the recent recall forced upon it by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will cost it $610 million.
On Tuesday, the NHTSA ordered the car manufacturer to issue a recall for potentially-deadly driver-side airbag inflators. Ford had previously filed a petition to avoid a recall, claiming that the airbag inflators in question did not pose the same risk as millions of other Takata inflators that have been involved in widespread recalls in recent years.
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Upon reviewing the information submitted by Ford, the NHTSA disagreed and said that the Takata inflators in question do in fact show signs of “propellant degradation and potential future rupture risk.” These inflators can rupture and send deadly metal fragments flying through the cabin of a car in the event of a crash. Ford estimates the recall will cost it approximately $610 million and confirmed that this figure will be reflected in its fourth-quarter 2020 results.
The recall involves 2.7 million vehicles in the U.S. and a further 300,000 in Canada and other locations. In a regulatory filing, the automaker said that this most recent recall impacts select 2006-2012 model year vehicles, including the 2007-2011 Ford Ranger, 2006-2012 Fusion, 2007-2010 Edge, 2006-2012 Lincoln MKZ/Zephyr, 2007-2010 MKX, and 2006-2011 Mercury Milan models.
Ford originally filed its petition to the NHTSA in July 2017 and confirmed that it was denied on January 19, 2021.
