American car manufacturer Ford has recalled 1.34 million units of the 2015-17 Ford F-150 and 2017 Ford Super Duty trucks sold in North America. The company will add water shields to the side door latches at a cost of $267 million (approx. 26.7 crores). America’s second largest car manufacturer, Ford has identified issues relating to a frozen door latch or a bent or kinked actuation cable in the affected vehicles, which may result in a door not opening or closing.
Owners of the affected vehicles will be notified next month. The company is yet to give a timetable as to when the parts will be available. Ford dealers will install water shields over the door latches and inspect as well as repair door latch cables if needed. Ford has now recalled more than 5 million vehicles for varying door latch-related issues since 2016, but the company said the issue in the new recall is different from prior ones. Back in 2015, Ford had first alerted its dealers and in November 2016 sent a bulletin to dealers that warned some 2015-2017 Ford F-150 trucks could have inoperative latches during freezing temperatures. The bulletin told dealers to install a rain shield to address the problem.
Ford claimed that the company is not aware of any accidents or injuries associated with the issue but said because of the fault, the door may appear closed, increasing the risk of the door opening while driving. A Ford spokeswoman, Elizabeth Weigandt said, “When the data indicates a safety recall is needed, we move quickly.” The cost of the new recall would be reflected in its fourth-quarter results.
