|Video Courtesy of NTDTV |
In the largest auto recall in China, Ford Motor Co. has offered to fix over 200,000 cars after concerns were raised over faulty ignition operation.
The problems mainly concerned Ford Focus models made between Aug. 18, 2008 and May 28 2010, according to the statement published on the China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine’s website.
The vehicles were made by a venture between Ford, Japan’s Mazda Motor Corp. and Chongqing Changan Automobile Co., according to the statement.
Bloomberg reports that the company is recalling the vehicles after about 2 percent of drivers experienced stalling, usually during traveling at low speeds. Ford will install new engine calibration software in the cars to correct the problem.
The latest recall is the second one this year for Ford. In February, faulty breaking systems were discovered in its hybrid sedan model. The Dearborn, Mich.-based company was forced to recall some 17,600 vehicles.
The recall came hot on the heels of news that Toyota is under investigation from U.S. safety authorities over braking problems with its flagship hybrid, the Prius.
Following the Toyota recall, Ford halted production of full-sized commercial vehicles in China, after discovering that the gas pedal used in its Transit Classic cars came from the same supplier involved in the recall at Toyota Motor Co.
In 2009, Ford’s Chinese passenger-car joint venture at Changan Ford Mazda Automobile Co., saw yearly sales rise 55 percent from a year earlier to 315,791 vehicles. The company’s commercial vehicle venture with Jiangling sold 114,688 vehicles.
In March the Changan plant celebrated the production of its 500,000th Ford Focus. The car was a 1.8-liter silver, 4-door sedan, which has become Ford’s best selling model in China.
The new Ford Focus made its world debut at the 2010 NAIAS this January, with production set to start later in the year in Europe and North America.
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