Cars and Drivers
Ford Recalls More Than 500,000 Pickups for Fire Risk
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Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) on Friday issued a safety recall for some of its model years 2017 through 2019 Super Duty SuperCrew pickup trucks to fix a problem with the vehicles’ carpet flooring that increases the risk of an interior fire if the truck is involved in a crash.
According to the company’s announcement, the recall affects 490,574 vehicles in the United States, 56,112 in Canada and 852 in Mexico. All the vehicles were built at Ford’s truck plant in Louisville, Kentucky, between October 8, 2015, and October 29, 2019. Ford did not specify how many of each of its models (F-150, F-250, F-350 and F-450) are included in the recall.
The company said that a front seat-belt pretensioner can generate “excessive sparks” in the event of a crash. The announcement goes on: “In some cases, this could ignite the carpet or carpet insulation in the area of the B-pillar. A fire in the B-pillar area may spread within the vehicle and increase the risk of injury.” The B-pillar is the vertical roof support between the front and rear doors of the four-door (SuperCrew) pickups.
To date, Ford has received one report of a fire related to this issue and is not aware of any accidents or injuries related to the issue. Ford did not specify when owners would be notified of the recall and told to bring their vehicles in for repair.
Ford dealers will fix the condition by applying foil tape to the carpet and carpet insulation and modifying the sound deadener on the backside of the B-pillar trim panel.
This is the second major recall in as many weeks for Ford’s best-selling F-Series pickups. Last Friday the company recalled more than 265,000 pickups built between 2017 and 2019 to fix a problem that caused the trucks’ tailgates to open unexpectedly while the vehicles were in motion. Those trucks (F-250, F-350, F-450 models) were also built at the Louisville plant during a period that is virtually the same as the timeframe for the latest recall. Owners of these trucks will be notified of the recall beginning next month.
Ford stock traded down about 0.6% at $9.27 early Friday morning. The stock’s 52-week range is $7.41 to $10.56, and the consensus 12-month price target is $10.09.
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