Made-in India Ford EcoSport recalled in Europe because of the lower control arm weld may not be correctly welded, which could result in an accident
Ford exports EcoSport from India to lots of global markets and the made in Indian EcoSport has been recalled in Europe because the lower control arm weld may not be correctly welded. This recall was posted on the European Commission official website and the risk level is very high.
Because of the faulty weld, the front wheel assembly may hit the wheel arch causing the front wheel to lock up and resulting in loss of steering control. This may lead to an accident and cars manufactured between May 2, 2017, and June 20, 2017, has been affected with this issues. Till now, the company hasn’t received any reports of injuries or accidents caused because of this issue.
A similar issue was also found in Sweden and the Netherlands, but the company has taken the necessary steps to solve the problem. The exact number of units affected with the issue in the UK is not known yet and Ford is expected to make an official announcement soon, which will shed more light into the issue.
In the UK, the EcoSport is powered by two engines options as the 1.0 L three-cylinder turbocharged EcoBoost engine is available in three different outputs – 99 bhp and 170 Nm, 123 bhp and 200 Nm & 138 hp and 200 Nm. The 1.5 L diesel is the same unit available in India also but it comes in two outputs.
The entry models get 99 hp and 215 Nm version while the top end variants come with 123 bhp and 300 Nm. These engines are mated to a 6-speed manual and automatic transmission with front wheel drive and all wheel drive options. The features in the UK model is similar to what we get in our market.
Last month, Ford recalled 7,249 units of EcoSport in India manufactured from November 2017 to March 2018. The problem was with the Powertrain Control Module (PCM) software of the new 1.5 L dragon series petrol engine. Ford Australia also announced a recall for EcoSport earlier this year. Let’s hope that Ford will improve its quality control to iron out these problems.