Ford is issuing two significant safety recalls in the United States, affecting hundreds of thousands of vehicles. The largest recall involves over 741,000 vehicles due to a transmission defect that could lead to parked cars rolling away unexpectedly.
This issue stems from a fault in the transmission's park system, which may not secure the vehicle, increasing the risk of accidents and injuries. The affected models include certain 2018-2021 Lincoln Navigators, 2018-2021 Ford Expeditions, 2020-2021 Ford Explorers, 2020-2021 Lincoln Aviators, and 2021 Ford F-150s.
To address this, Ford dealerships will update the transmission control software and inspect the vehicles for damage, replacing any compromised transmission components free of charge if necessary. Ford is also advising customers to use their electronic parking brake when parking until the recall repair is completed.
In a separate recall, Ford is recalling approximately 36,046 Bronco SUVs in the U.S. because of concerns that fender flares, which are the panels over the wheel arches, may not be secured properly. If these parts detach while driving, they could become dangerous debris on the road, creating a hazard for other drivers and increasing crash risks.
Ford dealerships will inspect the Bronco's fender flares and make necessary repairs or replacements at no cost to the owner.
These recalls come as Ford also addresses quality issues by hiring engineers to augment its AI systems. The automaker has hired more than 350 veteran engineers over the past three years to help tackle quality problems. Ford stated that combining AI tools with experienced engineering expertise has improved vehicle quality, leading to a decline in warranty and recall costs, which has resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in savings.
Charles Poon, Ford's vice president of vehicle hardware engineering, noted that AI effectiveness depends on the quality of training data and that the company previously did not sufficiently leverage the experience of its long-serving engineers. The company has implemented mandatory meetings to troubleshoot quality issues and reprogrammed AI tools to identify potential glitches before they occur. According to Chief Operating Officer Kumar Galhotra, relying solely on automated systems did not yield the desired results, prompting the automaker to re-engage technical specialists to identify potential failure points early in the manufacturing process.
