The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has announced several sweeping vehicles recalls this year, and another notice is set to affect 500,000 cars after a significant manufacturing issue.
The issue affects two car models over a number of years, and the NHTSA is advising those who experience the issue to wait until they receive further instruction from the parent company making the cars.
Ford is the company in question, and the recall affects both the 2016-2018 Lincoln MKX and the 2015-2018 Ford Edge. The parent company explained the significance of the issue behind the recall, and it’s a problem that no driver would want to experience in their own car.
Why Are the Ford Vehicles Being Recalled?
“If a flexible brake hose develops a leak, the driver may experience an increase in brake pedal travel together with an increase in stopping distance,” Ford said in a letter acknowledging the recall to car dealers.
“If the brake fluid level in the master cylinder reservoir becomes low, the red brake fluid warning indicator light will illuminate. An increase in stopping distance increases the risk of a crash.”
Ford said that customers who own the affected vehicles would be informed of the recall early next month. The company is still working on a permanent fix for the brake issue, and they’re expecting to finish it by April.
This isn’t the first recall for a major car manufacturer this year, and it’s also not the first to affect Ford.
The company recalled more than 355,000 trucks due to an error with the instrument panel display. Earlier this month, the NHTSA noted that the faulty panels “do not show critical information, such as warning lights or vehicle speed, increas[ing] the risk of a crash.”
How Has Ford Responded?
Ford Chief Operating Officer Kumar Galhotra addressed the recalls in a blog post on the company’s communications website earlier this summer. Galhotra said that the recalls are due to Ford having a more comprehensive review of safety and potential issues that arise with their vehicles.
“The increase in recalls reflects our intensive strategy to quickly find and fix hardware and software issues and go the extra mile to help protect customers,” the COO said.
“Ford has more than doubled its team of safety and technical experts in the past two years and significantly increased testing to failure on critical systems in current Ford vehicles such as powertrains, steering and braking. Insights from this testing are being incorporated into current production.”
As customers examine whether their vehicles are affected by the numerous recalls, we’ll see if the continued issues affect Ford’s overall sales numbers.
