More Ford vehicles in trouble as recall order now expands to over 1 lakh units

Ford Motor Co. has issued fresh recall orders - its second in about a week - with the latest covering as many as 100,000 units in the United States. The recall order has been issued to check potential fire risks in the suspect vehicles and comes shortly after the company had issued a similar recall order covering 60,000 units.

The latest Ford recall covers units of Ford Escape, Maverick and Lincoln Corsair with hybrid and plug-in hybrid engines manufactured between 2020 and 2022. The potential problem pertains to a situation where engine oil and vapour may emanate in case of an engine failure and if near ignition sources, could cause under-hood fire.

It is reported that dealers are being asked to fix the engine shield and grille shutters to negate the issue. Thus far, there have been no injuries reported due to this potential fire risk.

Ford has been in the midst of hectic recall orders in recent times with an order covering Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator being issued just last week. These models too potentially face under-hood fire risks and therefore, owners have been asked to park in open spaces.

With the country's automotive safety regulatory body cracking down against companies with models that may have safety risks of one kind or another, companies are leaving nothing to chance and have recently become quite proactive in issuing recall orders to carry out checks. In almost all such instances, these checks are - and repairs if any required - are carried out without any charge to the customer.

(With inputs from Bloomberg)