India-made Ford EcoSport recalled, warranty extended - Australia

Curtain airbags may not deploy properly. 

Ford of Australia has recalled 2,804 units of the EcoSport compact SUV for a potential problem with the wiring harness connecting the curtain airbags, seatbelt pretensioner and side impact sensor. The EcoSport for Australia is exported from Ford India's Chennai plant.

Models made between June 15, 2013 and August 26, 2014 are affected by this recall, wherein the side airbags may not deploy properly in the event of a collision. This issue is no way related to the Takata recall which has seen manufacturers across the globe recall about 8 million vehicles collectively.

In India, the top-end Titanium (O) models and the Titanium AT model of the EcoSport are fitted with curtain airbags, however, Ford India has not announced a recall for the crossover.

Another issue that seems to be plaguing the India-made EcoSport in Australia relates to the variant fitted with the 6-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission (also offered in India).

Ford has acknowledged that during light acceleration, the car could have excessive clutch shudder, a problem that may be caused by fluid contamination due to leaking transmission seals.

Also read: India-bound 2015 Ford Endeavour revealed

As a result, Ford of Australia extended the warranty on the EcoSport from 3 years/100,000 km to 5 years/160,000 km. Customers facing this issue can have their transmissions serviced free of cost as well.

[Source - CarAdvice]