Ford to recall nearly 700,000 vehicles in North America over two defects

Ford Motors yesterday said that it will recall nearly 700,000 vehicles in North America to fix two safety problems.

The recall affects nearly 692,500 Escape small SUVs and C-Max gas-electric hybrids of 2013 and 2014 model years.

About 65,000 of the recalled vehicles are C-Max hybrids, while the rest are ford Escape.

The Detroit-based carmaker said that the recall affects around 591,000 in the US, with 3,500 more in US territories, around 78,000 are in Canada and 19,500 in Mexico. The company noted that more vehicles could be affected in other markets.

In the first case, Ford traced the defect to the airbag deployment software glitch, which can stop the side curtain air bags from inflating in certain types of rollover crashes and increase the possibility of injury to passengers.

The second case covers about 692,700 Escapes, where a defect in the exterior door prevents the latch from properly closing, allowing the door to swing open while the vehicle is in motion.

The automaker said that it wasn't aware of any injuries or accidents because of the two defects.