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Ford recalling 390,000 cars over door latch woes

Ford is recalling certain Fiesta, Fusion and Lincoln MKZ vehicles due to faulty door latches, marking the latest in what seems to be a recurring issue for the Blue Oval. This is the third door latch recall from Ford in 2015, following a 213,000-unit recall in March and a 205,000-unit recall in January. This one, however, is significantly larger. A total of 390,000 units are affected, including Fusions and MKZs from model years 2013 and 2014, as well as Fiestas from model years 2012 to 2014. A "broken pawl spring tab" is the culprit, potentially keeping doors from latching shut. According to Ford, even if the door does shut, it could come open again without warning. The affected Fiestas were built between February 1, 2012 and May 31, 2013 at the Cuautitlan, Mexico factory. The Fusion and MKZ siblings, meanwhile, were screwed together at Hermosillo Assembly in Mexico between July 1, 2012 to May 31, 2013. Ford is aware of three minor reports of door malfunctions. In two cases, the door bounced back open, quite literally hitting drivers on their way out. In the third case, a door swung open of its own accord while a driver was attempting to park, hitting another vehicle. Ford will notify owners, who will need to report into dealers to have all four latches replaced. Scroll down for the official press release. Related Video: APR 24, 2015 | DEARBORN, MICH. FORD MOTOR COMPANY ISSUES SAFETY RECALL IN NORTH AMERICA FOR DOOR LATCH ISSUE ON FORD FIESTA AND FUSION, LINCOLN MKZ Ford Motor Company is issuing a safety recall for approximately 390,000 2012-2014 Ford Fiesta and 2013-2014 Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ vehicles for a door latch issue. The door latch in these vehicles may experience a broken pawl spring tab, which typically results in a condition where the door will not latch. If a customer is then able to latch the door, there is potential the door may unlatch while driving, increasing the risk of injury. Ford is aware of two allegations of soreness resulting from an unlatched door bouncing back when the customer attempted to close it, and one accident allegation when an unlatched door swung open and struck an adjacent vehicle as the driver was pulling into a parking space. Affected vehicles include certain 2012-2014 Ford Fiesta vehicles built at Cuautitlan Assembly Plant, Feb.

Ford books $1.2B profit in second quarter on strength of trucks

Ford is rolling along nicely, with a positive second-quarter sales report and a $2.3 billion profit in North America. The Dearborn, Michigan-based manufacturer captured $1.2 billion globally from April to June, with a $177 million profit in Asia. Even in Europe, the land of doom and gloom for automakers not named Mazda, Ford saw some success as it lowered its expected full-year loss from $2 billion to $1.8 billion. The company lost $348 million in Europe during the second quarter, which, believe it or not, represents a $56-million improvement over 2012.
According to the report on CNBC, Ford enjoyed a three-percent increase in pre-market trading thanks to the news. The strong demand for the F-150 propelled growth in the US market, while Ford's 47-percent increase in Asian sales can be attributed to the new EcoSport crossover and Kuga (Ford Escape in the US) arriving in the somewhat fragile Chinese market.
Pre-tax profits for Ford are expected to be in the neighborhood of $8 billion by the end of the year, with sales the US, Europe, and China all looking up. The company also shifted $4.78 billion of asset-backed debt in the form of bonds, according to a report by Bloomberg. This move came amidst rumors of the Federal Reserve cutting back on its $85-billion-per-month bond purchases. Ford wasn't alone among automakers looking to sell off debt, though, as Mercedes-Benz and Nissan shifted around $1 billion each in bonds relating to auto loans.

Autoblog Podcast #317

Mitsubishi Mirage, Toyota thinks of beefing up US production, Marchionne on Alfa, Dart and minivans, Ford Atlas concept, Honda Gear concept
Episode #317 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth, Jeff Ross and Michael Harley bookend the other podcast topics with a pair from the Montreal Auto Show, the Mitsubishi Mirage and Honda Gear concept, and in between we talk about Toyota building all its US-market cars stateside, Hyundai building a Nurburgring test facility, Sergio Marchionne's latest words about Alfa Romeo, Dodge Dart powertrains and the future of Chrysler vans. Some chatter about the Ford Atlas concept finishes up the meat of the 'cast and then we wrap with your questions. For those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. Keep reading for our Q&A module for you to scroll through and follow along, too. Thanks for listening!
Autoblog Podcast #317: