Ford Motor Company just made the largest recall in history. Approximately 1.1 million vehicles recalled due to a software malfunction causing the rearview cameras to display a blank image. The recall includes multiple models from the 2021 through 2024 model years. In particular, it aims at the Bronco, F-150, Edge, Expedition and others. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) website indicates that the recall was formally submitted by Ford on Wednesday.
This recall impact on a lot vehicle models. It’s notable that that covers the 2021-2024 Bronco, F-150, and Edge, as well as the 2023-2024 Escape, Corsair, F-250, F-350, F-450, F-550 and F-600. The recall covers numerous models. This includes the 2022-2024 Expedition, 2022-2025 Transit, 2021-2023 Mach-E, Lincoln Nautilus, 2024 Ranger, Mustang and the 2022-2024 Navigator.
Ford must also start notifying vehicle owners of the safety risk with first-class mail letters by June 16. A second notification will be sent when a fix for the problem is issued later this year. This outreach is part of NHTSA’s proactive approach to informing customers about the risks that may affect them and their vehicles.
Ford’s engineering team was ultimately able to reproduce the failure mode in a vehicle. McKinsey’s report made the software challenge very visible. Their analysis traced the issue to particular software versions. Ford’s outreach and education efforts Ford still has a lot of work to do to restore consumer confidence in (or knowledge of) rearview camera functionality. This recall comes on the heels of a $165 civil penalty against the NHTSA in November. The penalty stemmed from Ford’s delays in issuing recalls for cars with faulty rearview cameras.
Yet as recently as January, NHTSA was still reaching out to Ford about these very serious allegations. These complaints cover some 39 separate defects concerning rearview camera operation in 2021-2023 Ford F-150 pickup trucks. This raised some alarming questions and proceeded to more extensive investigation, eventually resulting in the current extensive nationwide recall.