Ford Motor Co. (F) is recalling Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Car sedans manufactured from 2005 to 2011, according to Reuters. The automaker is recalling 370,000 vehicles in the U.S and Canada to replace a steering shaft.
Of these, Ford will be recalling 355,000 vehicles in the U.S. from states including Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin and West Virginia. The remaining 15,000 vehicles will be recalled from Canada.
Ford suspects that the rusting of the lower intermediate steering shaft of vehicles may lead to steering failure. Thus, the automaker recalled the vehicles and said that the dealers will examine and if required, replace the lower intermediate steering shaft. If deemed essential, the dealers will also secure a lower steering column bearing and change the upper intermediate steering shaft. However, the company said it was not aware of any causality due to this error.
However, this is not the first instance of a product recall by Ford. In Jun, 2013, the company recalled 465,000 units of 2013 Ford Fusion, Flex, Explorer, Taurus, Interceptor Sedan and Interceptor Utility, together with the 2013 Lincoln MKZ, MKS and MKT globally in order to repair fuel leakage.
In Dec, 2012, Ford recalled 80,000 2013 Fusions in order to fix their engine leaks. In Nov, 2013 the automaker recalled another 19,000 Fusions to repair the lighting system. Ford also recalled 500 2013 Lincoln MKZ sedans with engine block heaters.
In Aug, 2013 Dongfeng Honda Automobile Co., the Chinese arm of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (HMC), also announced that it is recalling all Siwei CR-V vehicles manufactured from Mar 2, 2010 to Aug 30, 2012. The recall is being made to fix a defective front shock absorber piston rod. According to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, the defective rod could break in some cases, leading to safety issues.
Thus, Honda is recalling almost 408,000 SUVs. While product recalls are very common, this recall might hurt Honda as the company, like most Japanese automakers, is trying to regain its market share in China.
Ford currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Other major automobile stocks worth considering are Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. (NSANY) and Volkswagen AG (VLKAY). Both the companies are Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock.
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