Ford to recall 830,000 vehicles in the US, Mexico over faulty door latches

US carmaker Ford yesterday said that it is recalling about 830,000 vehicles in the US and Mexico over faulty door latches.

The recall comes six months after the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched an investigation into nearly 400,000 model year 2012 and 2013 Ford Focus vehicles after receiving consumer complaints that the doors do not remain latched.

The current recall is the latest in a series of door-latch problems that have affected more than 1.1 million Ford models within the past year and has been caused by parts in the side door latches that can break and the doors can open while the vehicles are in motion.

The recall covers certain 2013 to 2015 Ford Escape SUVs, C-Max cars, and 2012 to 2015 Focus cars. Also included in the recall are 2014 to 2016 Ford Transit Connect vans, Ford Mustang sports cars and Lincoln MKC SUVs from 2015.

Ford said a faulty spring part can break, stopping the doors from latching. The problems are higher in states with high temperatures and sunlight exposure, hence the recall is focused on all of Mexico and 16 states mainly in the south and west.

States included are Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Oregon and Washington.

The Detroit-based carmaker said that it is aware of one crash and one injury that could have been caused by the problem.

Ford dealers will replace all latches in the recall states and Mexico, while in other states, they will replace the latches if they break.
 
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Ford said that it will incur a cost of around $270 million on the recall, and that figure will be included in the company's third-quarter pretax results.