NHTSA Launches Two Investigations Into Ford After Issuing Massive Civil Penalty

Just after agreeing to pay a $165 million civil penalty to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration last week, Ford is now facing two more investigations into recalls it issued this year, Reuters reports.

The $165 million penalty in question was issued over Ford being too slow to issue a recall for defective rearview cameras in its vehicles. In addition to the penalty, Ford must review all recalls it’s issued over the past three years, and to issue new ones if necessary.

Now, Ford is in hot water again for recalls it’s issued, NHTSA shared this past Monday; the first of which being a February recall over seat belt issues.

That recall applied to 77,000 Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator SUVs. Since then, NHTSA has received three complaints of seat belt retractor pretensioners suddenly deploying, with individuals describing a loud sound followed by the seatbelt tightening and locking up.

NHTSA is now investigating whether Ford will need to issue an additional recall for 112,000 Ford Expedition SUVs that may still be at risk of the issue.

The other recall was issued this past April, and covered around 456,000 Bronco Sport and Ford Maverick vehicles. A rapidly degrading 12-volt battery had made these vehicles prone to loss of power and electrical system failure.

Though Ford’s remedy was to implement software updates to optimize detection of the battery’s charge state, NHTSA has received 15 reports from those who received the update yet still experienced loss of power.

This investigation will be to determine whether Ford’s prescribed solution actually addressed the issue. Ford has said it will be working with NHTSA in both of these investigations.