Ford Motor Co. on Thursday added to the year's massive surge in auto-safety recalls, calling back 1.38 million vehicles in North America for repairs, some of which it previously had ruled out requiring a change, reported The Wall Street Journal.
The No. 2 U.S. auto maker's latest action includes about 1.1 million sport-utility vehicles in North America because of problems that could lead their power steering to stop functioning.
The move highlights a shift in behavior this year among auto makers to fix problems they had previously tried to address without broad-based safety campaigns. Auto makers have recalled about 22.7 million vehicles in the U.S. to date this year compared with 20.9 million cars in all of 2013.
Nearly a year ago, a Ford safety official ruled out recalling the 2011 Explorers despite complaints by U.S. drivers. According to a June 2013 letter to U.S. regulators, the official said a loss of power steering "does not present an unreasonable safety risk in these vehicles."
The SUV recall for steering defects now includes that same vehicle. Ford plans to replace a malfunctioning electrical connection in certain 2011 through 2013 Explorers whose power steering can turn off. It also would replace a faulty sensor in 2008 through 2011 Escape and Mariner vehicles that could cause power steering to malfunction and make the cars difficult to control.
Ford said it is aware of five accidents and six injuries connected to the Escape and Mariner problems and 15 slow-speed crashes and two injuries connected to the Explorer's steering.
General Motors Co. earlier this year recalled 1.3 million cars for a power steering problem despite arguing earlier that a loss of power steering wasn't a safety concern because the cars could still be controlled, albeit with more effort by a driver.
GM reversed its position and ordered a recall on March 31, part of a series initiated after the Detroit company came under fire for failing to recall small cars with a defective ignition switch then linked to at least 13 deaths. The steering recall included Saturn Ions built between 2003 and 2007. Four years earlier, GM recalled Chevrolet Cobalts and Pontiac G5s—vehicles made from the same components as the Ion—for the same power steering problem, but GM had pushed at the time to exclude the Ion from that recall.
The record year for automobile recalls was 1999, when nearly 55.6 million vehicles were recalled, according to U.S. data.
GM already has recalled 13.8 million vehicles this year. Ford, Toyota Motor Corp. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV have recalled millions of cars and light trucks each. Fiat Chrysler Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne recently said the company has launched a review of its safety policies.
Hefty government penalties changed the recall reluctance. In March, Toyota agreed to pay $1.2 billion to settle a U.S. government criminal investigation into allegations that the auto maker committed fraud by delaying recalls for defects related to sudden acceleration. GM earlier this month agreed to pay $35 million to settle a civil complaint, and the auto maker faces civil and criminal investigations over a troubled recall.
Ford's recall of Escapes and Mariners was compelled by Transport Canada, that nation's traffic safety regulator, not by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the U.S.
"Our decision to conduct this safety recall is based on concerns relayed to us by Transport Canada," Ford said in a statement on Thursday.
Although Transport Canada was investigating the Escape's power steering problem, NHTSA had no active probe of the Escape steering complaints as of April, according to its website.
The U.S. agency received 336 complaints about steering problems with 2008 Escapes—nearly half of all complaints it had on that year's model. NHTSA received 114 steering-related complaints total for Escapes from the 2009 to 2012 model-years.
Other Ford vehicles recalled on Thursday include 196,600 Taurus for corrosion to license plate lampssedans for corrosion to license plate lamps and 82,500 Fusion, Milan, Zephyr and Lincoln MKZ sedans for slipping floor mats equipped with all-weather floor mats that could slip and entrap accelerator pedals.
