Ford apologises to Kuga owners
‘Post-recall, car safe to drive’
FORD SA has finally gone some way to acknowledging its failure to warn its Kuga 1.6 model customers about the risk of the vehicle catching alight‚ despite knowing about many such cases.
“We recognise that during the initial process‚ customers and the public were not well enough informed about the situation‚ and for that Ford sincerely apologises‚” Ford SA chief executive Jeff Nemeth said in a statement on Friday.
“We care about the safety and well-being of our customers. It’s at the heart of everything we do‚ and we understand our customers have questions and concerns. Our current focus is on working with our dealers and customers to resolve these issues as quickly as possible‚ through open and direct communication.”
Having been forced by the National Consumer Commission (NCC) to announce‚ in mid-January‚ a safety recall of 4 556 1.6litre Kugas built between December 2012 and February 2014‚ Ford met NCC officials on Friday to update them on the recall’s progress.
Here’s why that recall was required‚ in Nemeth’s words: “Due to them being potentially susceptible to overheating due to a lack of coolant circulation‚ which in some cases could cause an engine to overheat with a resulting crack in the cylinder head.”
The company is busy with stage one of the recall – replacing affected components on the cooling system‚ verifying and updating the software‚ and conducting an oil leak check on the cylinder head. And that has caused a parts crisis‚ with parts being flown in “to alleviate the shortage”. All outstanding parts will be in the country by midFebruary‚ Nemeth said.
The parts shortage created another crisis – the need to provide those 4 556 affected Kuga owners with another set of wheels while their too-risky-todrive Kugas await parts.
“Ford has supplied more than 4 080 courtesy cars to affected 1.6 Kuga customers. This excludes the number of dealer loaner and Ford SA’s company vehicles that were given to customers while their vehicles underwent safety recall action.”
Nemeth stressed that post-recall‚ the 1.6 Kuga was perfectly safe to drive.