Ford recalls Escapes, Fusions over fire risk

DETROIT — Ford is recalling more than 89,000 new Escape SUVs and Fusion sedans because the engines can overheat and catch fire.

The company says the 2013 vehicles have 1.6-liter engines and were sold in the U.S. and Canada.

Ford says it’s working on a fix and is asking owners to call their dealers, who will loan them another car at no charge until the problem is solved.

The company says it has reports of 12 fires in Escapes and one in a Fusion. No injuries have been reported.

Fusion and Escape models with different engines are not affected by the recall.

By Brian Gaar

Whole Foods Market said Thursday it will pay a special dividend of $2 a share, joining other companies who are trying to get ahead of possible tax increases starting next year.

With almost 186 million shares outstanding, the special dividend would cost Whole Foods about $372 million.

The Austin-based natural grocery store chain said the special dividend will be paid Dec. 21 to shareholders of record on Dec. 10.

The dividend “provides us with another opportunity to return capital to our shareholders,” Whole Foods coCEO John Mackey said in a written statement.

“We believe we will continue to generate strong cash flows and are confident in our ability to maintain a healthy cash reserve, internally fund our accelerated growth plans, and continue our quarterly dividend and stock repurchase programs,” he said.

In November, Whole Foods declared a regular quarterly dividend of 20 cents per share. That dividend will be paid Jan. 29 to shareholders of record on Jan. 18.

Whole Foods is one of the latest companies to issue a special end-of-year payment to protect investors from potentially having to pay higher taxes on dividend income starting in January.

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