On Friday, Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) announced its plan to recall 169,000 vehicles in the United States for the purpose of replacing rearview cameras and performing software updates. To cover the costs associated with this recall, the company is earmarking a charge of $270 million.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the potential loss of the rearview camera image poses a heightened risk of accidents by diminishing the driver's ability to see behind the vehicle. Ford announced its intention to address this issue by replacing the rearview camera and performing software updates in select vehicle models. These models include the 2020-2023 Explorer and Aviator, 2020-2022 Corsair, 2022-2023 Transit vans, 2018-2021 Navigator, and 2021 Bronco vehicles.
According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the aggregate cost to replace the cameras and update software on the vehicles will set the company back an estimated $270 million.
Ford has acknowledged receiving 3,486 warranty reports citing rear camera failures. Additionally, the company has received reports of two minor crashes related to this issue; however, fortunately, no injuries have been reported.
Since 2021, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been conducting an investigation to determine whether Ford delayed a recall of 620,000 vehicles in 2020 due to rear camera issues. The investigation also aims to assess whether Ford recalled a sufficient number of vehicles to address this problem.
Shares of F are down 0.21% in mid-day trading Friday.