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Automotive giant Ford continues to be wracked with production issues. The car manufacturer has issued yet another recall – this time involving fire-starting seat belts.
The auto company, under pressure from US safety regulators, is recalling approximately 2 million F-150 pickup trucks from model years 2015 to 2018 in North America – 340,000 of those trucks are in Canada.
Ford explained that the defective seat belt pretensioners can generate excessive sparks when they tighten before a crash. Those sparks could then ignite gases inside a support pillar between the front and rear seats, causing insulation and carpet to catch fire.
Globalnews.ca reported that the seat belt pretensioners were made by ZF-TRW and the now-defunct air bag and seat belt maker Takata.
Last week, Ford said that it had recorded 23 reports of smoke or fire in US and Canadian trucks, but is not aware of any injuries. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) had been investigating the seat belt issue since early August after receiving five fire reports – including three cases wherein the fire resulted in the destruction of the trucks.
In a filing with US securities regulators, Ford said that the recall will cost about US$140 million.
