Ford agrees to pay penalty to US government for moving too slowly on recalls

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. will pay a penalty of up to $165 million to the U.S. government for moving too slowly on a recall and failing to provide accurate recall information.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Thursday that the civil penalty is the second-largest in its 54-year history. Only the fine Takata paid for faulty air bag inflators was higher.

The agency said Ford was too leisurely to recall vehicles with faulty rearview cameras, and it failed to provide the agency complete information, which is required by the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Act.

Ford agreed to a consent order with the agency that includes a remittance of $65 million, and $45 million in spending to comply with the law. Another $55 million will be deferred.

“Timely and accurate recalls are critical to keeping everyone secure on our roads,” NHTSA Deputy Administrator Sophie Shulman said. “When manufacturers fall short to prioritize the safety of the American community and meet their obligations under federal law, NHTSA will hold them accountable.”

Under the order, an independent third event will oversee the automaker’s recall act obligations for at least three years, and Ford has to cooperate with the monitor.

Ford also has to review all recalls over the last three years to make sure enough vehicles have been recalled, and file recent recalls if essential.

The business also must review and transformation its recall selection-making procedure, improving the way it analyzes data to discover safety defects in its vehicles. It also has to invest in technology so it can trace parts by vehicle identification numbers.

Ford says it will invest the $45 million into advanced data analytics, a recent document structure, and a recent testing lab.

“We appreciate the chance to resolve this matter with NHTSA and remain committed to continuously improving safety,” Ford said in a statement.

Under the law, an automaker has to notify NHTSA by filing a defect update within five working days of finding out that a line of vehicles has a safety defect.

The problematic recall of more than 620,000 vehicles in the U.S., over 700,000 in North America, came in September of 2020 for rear-view cameras that can fall short on several 2020 models, including the F-Series pickup, the top selling vehicle in the U.S.

In agency documents, NHTSA said Ford found warranty claims about the faulty cameras from February through April of 2020, and the matter was brought to a Ford committee in May of that year.

In July of 2020, NHTSA contacted Ford about complaints it had received about failing cameras, and during an August 2020, conference with NHTSA, Ford showed data for many 2020 models with high camera setback rates.

The business did the recall on Sept. 23, 2020, and about a year later NHTSA began investigating whether the recall was done quickly enough or included enough vehicles.

In 2022 and 2024, Ford did two more recalls for the same issue, adding about 24,000 vehicles to the first camera recall.

In the consent order, NHTSA said its investigation found that Ford violated multiple parts of the law by moving too slowly to recall vehicles with faulty cameras, giving the agency inaccurate or incomplete information, and failing to turn in required quarterly reports about additional recalls.

The order said that Ford disagreed with its assertions.

For several years, high warranty and recall costs have dinged Ford’s profits, but the business says it’s working to fix the issues.

The penalty doesn’t complete conflicts between Ford and NHTSA.

Earlier this year the agency opened an investigation into a Ford SUV recall repair that doesn’t fix gasoline leaks that can factor engine fires. Investigators wrote in an April 25 note to Ford that they have “significant safety concerns” about a March 8 recall of nearly 43,000 Bronco Sport and Escape SUVs.

Ford said in documents that fuel injectors can crack, allowing gas or vapor to leak near warm engine parts, potentially causing fires and injuries. But the fix is to add a drain tube to send the gas away from warm surfaces and software that cuts off the fuel supply if it detects a leak.

In the note, the agency’s Office of Defects Investigation wrote that based on its review of the recall fix, it “believes that the remedy program does not address the root factor of the issue and does not proactively call for the replacement of defective fuel injectors prior to their setback.”

Ford said that it has a powerful recall procedure and is committed to complying with the law, but it can always enhance. It said it has learned from the camera recall.

“We look forward to working with NHTSA and the independent third event to implement further enhancements,” Ford said.