Ford recalls 850,000 vehicles over faulty airbag

Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F), has announced to recall about 850,000 cars in the United States to fix a glitch in the “restraints control module”. It could lead to a short circuit and delay or prevent the deployment of airbags in the event of a crash. The action covers 2013-14 Ford C-Max, Fusion, Escape and Lincoln MKZ models.

In the affected models, the deployable restraint systems (e.g., airbags, pre-tensioners, side curtains) may not function as intended in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of injury. It is quite a possibility that it can also disturb the functioning of other systems like stability control as the system receives information from the module. The electronic stability control is an important safety feature that controls the vehicle during the moment of a skid.

The company has detected the problem during its “normal internal processes,” such as warranty claims, wrote Kelli Felker, a company spokeswoman, in an email. The Ford control module is not produced by Takata, Ms. Felker added, as propellant that ignites and produces gas in Takata air bags, was not properly prepared and was too powerful, enough to shatter metal pieces. She also states that no accidents or injuries related to the problem have been reported till date, even though several dozen complaints from owners about the current restraint control module problem have been received by the safety agencies.

Out of the 850,000 vehicles recalled, about 750,000 are from the U.S. and the rest are from Mexico and Canada. It is a major recall for this week after Chrysler, which recalled nearly 350,000 vehicles on Thursday, September 25th, due to fault with the ignition switch that might have lead to shutting down of the engine.

This year, auto companies in the U.S. have recalled nearly 40 million vehicles, most of them being vehicles from the General Motors Company (NYSE: GM).