Ford Recalls 3.8 Million Pickups, SUVs
By JEFFREY MCCRACKEN
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
September 7, 2005 2:53 p.m.
DETROIT-- Ford Motor Co. is recalling 3.8 million pickups and sports-utility vehicles because a problem with the cruise control can cause engine fires, even when the vehicle isn't running.
Ford is voluntarily recalling F-150 pickup trucks made from 1994-2002, Ford Expeditions built from 1997-2002, Lincoln Navigators built from 1998-2002 and Ford Broncos built from 1994-1996. The F-150 pickup is Ford's most-popular selling vehicle. It is the fifth-largest auto industry recall in U.S. history.
This is the second recall on these vehicles for concerns about the cruise control causing fires. Ford recalled 792,000 of them back in January.
The latest recall follows a decision by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in March to investigate these vehicles. At the time, NHTSA said it had received 218 complaints of engine fires.
The recall comes the same day consumer activist Ralph Nader sent a letter to Ford Chief Executive Bill Ford asking him to recall these trucks, along with some Ford cars that Mr. Nader says use a similar cruise-control switch.
NHTSA has received more than 550 complaints of engine fires from the cruise-control switch. There have been allegations of three deaths in cases cited in news reports or lawsuits in Iowa, Georgia and Arkansas.
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