A visitor walks past a Ford Escape Titanium at an auto show last April.
Greg Baker | AFP | Getty Images
DETROIT – Ford Motor will recall 3 million older vehicles due to potential issues with their airbag inflators, costing the automaker an estimated $ 610 million.
The company confirmed the charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission on a Thursday after the closing bell. Ford shares fell into the red during out of hours trading, about 2% lower. Shares ended Thursday with 6.2% at $ 11.53 a share – the highest close since June 2018. Ford’s market cap is more than $ 45 billion.
In the filing, Ford said the expense will be treated as a special item as part of its fourth-quarter earnings on Feb. 4. That means it won’t affect Ford’s adjusted earnings before interest and taxes or adjusted earnings per share – closely watched items by Wall Street.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Tuesday denied a 2017 petition from Ford to prevent the recall of the vehicles with the potentially dangerous airbags produced by auto supplier Takata.
Affected vehicles range from model years 2006 to 2012. They include Ford Ranger (2007-2011), Fusion (2006-2012), Edge (2007-2010), Lincoln MKZ / Zephyr (2006-2012), MKX (2007-2010) ) and Mercury Milan vehicles (2006-2011).
The recall affects approximately 2.7 million vehicles in the US and approximately 300,000 in Canada and other locations, the company said.
Takata airbag inflators have been an ongoing problem for car manufacturers for years. The defect can cause air bag inflators to rupture, causing potentially deadly metal fragments to fly into the vehicle. According to Reuters, the problem has been linked to the deaths of at least 27 people worldwide and 18 in the US. The problem with the more than 67 million inflators is the largest car recall in US history.