Ford Motor Company has issued yet another recall.
This time, the automaker is recalling over 592,000 vehicles worldwide–including an estimated 554,000 located in the U.S.–for the potential loss of power steering.
While Ford claims the steering should still work even in the event of a loss of power, that loss, the company admitted, would make the vehicle more difficult to steer thereby increasing the likelihood of an accident occurring.
According to the manufacturer, defective bolts utilized in the steering system of affected vehicles are prone to rust and break, leading to the sudden loss of power.
Vehicles and model years affected by the steering recall include:
Ford Fusion 2013-2015
Lincoln MKZ 2013-2015
Ford Edge 2015
Note that Ford is limiting the scope of the recall to states that see significant snowfall, including Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin, in addition to Washington, D.C.
This limitation is often referred to as a “regional recall” and is authorized by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA).
The company is doing so under the theory that salt used on icy roadways throughout much of the northern U.S. is most often responsible for hastening the corrosion associated with the recall.
Ford also announced the recall of roughly 50,000 vehicles–nearly 46,000 located in the U.S.–for a potential stalling problem.
The problem has been traced to a defective fuel pump.
Vehicles and model years affected include:
Ford Focus 2014
Ford Edge 2014
Ford Escape 2014
Ford Transit 2014
Ford Fiesta 2014-2015
This just the latest in a string of Ford recalls over the past few years.
In fact, as documented by countless news agencies, Ford is contributing to making 2015 another record year for recalls in the automotive industry.
Yet another dubious milestone for automakers.