MOTORING NEWS - The president and CEO of Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa says the fire that caused Reshall Jimmy’s death in Wilderness was not caused by the same problem that sparked a safety recall of over 4 500 1,6 litre Ford Kugas. CEO Jeff Nemeth said in parliament last Tuesday that experts called in by both Jimmy’s family and Ford came to the same conclusion.
Nemeth defended the Kuga and his company when he appeared before parliament’s trade and industry committee but he acknowledged the company had not handled the recall as well as it could have. However, the CEO defended the time it took before the company launched the safety recall in January.
“Recalling vehicles before a full understanding of the technical and operating environment could result in identifying the wrong population of vehicles or failing to properly remedy the issue.”
Nemeth said the fire in which Jimmy died was not caused by the coolant system problem that led to the recall.“Every expert, both Ford’s and those engaged by Mr Jimmy’s family, have concluded that the fire his vehicle experienced was caused by a different issue than the one that led to this recall.”
Nemeth said Ford is continuing to co-operate with police, the Jimmy family and its lawyer to investigate the incident.
Of the 4 556 ford Kugas recalled, 63% have been dealt with, while about 360 customers opted for trade-ins. Ford South Africa repeated that the safety of its customers is its top priority. Nemeth said of the Kugas recalled, 3 200 have been checked, while 2 700 have been serviced and returned to their owners.
The Sunday Times had reported that insurers Auto & General and Dialdirect were to take legal action against Ford in connection with fires which have destroyed several Ford EcoSport SUVs in South Africa.
Ford Australia has recalled 4 850 examples of its Kuga and Fiesta ST models in relation to the safety issue that could lead to a fire in the engine compartment. The 4 450 Kugas involved were built between December 2012 and July 2014, while the 400 defective Fiesta STs were manufactured from March 2013 to November 2014.
Ford also recalled nearly 1 000 vehicles in New Zealand to fix an engine fire risk as part of a worldwide fix for the company involving nearly 400 000 vehicles. The affected vehicles in New Zealand are 911 Kuga SUVs (2012-2014 models) and 69 Fiesta ST cars (2013-2015).
Read a related article: Ford recalls Fiesta GTDi
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