Ford recalls almost 700,000 units over potential fuel leak and fire

DETROIT: Ford Motor Co is recalling almost 700,000 vehicles to address a long-running issue over cracking in an auto part that can leak fuel into the engine and cause fires.

The action applies to certain Bronco Sport and Escape models from 2020 to 2024, according to documents posted on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website.

Ford has identified eight instances where cracking in a fuel injector led to a fire under the car's hood. None of these resulted in injuries.

Ford said in a separate regulatory filing that it expected to incur about US$570mil (RM2.419bil) in costs as it evaluates fixes for the problem.

It will be treated as a special item in its second-quarter results and won't affect its adjusted earnings or cash flow, the company said.

Ford shares were down 1% before regular trading Wednesday in New York.

Issues with the fuel injectors were identified as early as 2022, when Ford recalled about 500,000 vehicles.

US auto-safety regulators opened a so-called recall query in 2024 to assess the adequacy of the prior action, saying that Ford's remedy plan "does not address the root cause of the issue."

The automaker opened its own investigation that year and subsequently had multiple meetings with NHTSA prior to the latest recall.