Ford Recalls 65,000 Fusion Cars for Roll-Away Issue

Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday it will recall 65,000 new Ford Fusion cars in North America because they could roll away, reported The Detroit News.

The Dearborn automaker said the recall covers 56,500 2014-15 Fusion cars in the United States and about 8,500 in Canada and Mexico because the key can be removed 30 minutes after the ignition is turned off, even if the transmission is not in park. The vehicles are not currently in compliance with a U.S. regulation involving theft protection and roll-away prevention.

Ford is not aware of any accidents or injuries related to this condition.

Dealers will reprogram the instrument cluster.

Like many automakers, Ford has seen its recalls soar this year, with 36 U.S. recalls for a total of 4.3 million vehicles. By contrast, Ford recalled 1.2 million vehicles in 2013 in the United States in 16 campaigns.

The auto industry as a whole has recalled nearly 60 million vehicles this year, led by General Motors Co.’s 26.5 million vehicles, nearly double the previous record of 30.8 million set in 2004. Earlier this month, Ford issued five separate recall campaigns covering 200,000 vehicles. And Friday it expanded a recall of 85,000 vehicles for Takata airbags to include both the passenger and driver airbags in 25,000 Ford Ranger pickups.