Ford recalls nearly 1.4 million vehicles in North America

Ford Motor Co unveils the new 2011 Ford Explorer outside the Ford Motor World Headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan in this file photo taken July 26, 2010. [Photo/Agencies]

Ford Motor Co said on Thursday it is recalling 1.39 million SUVs and sedans in North America, most for the possible loss of power steering.

About 1.186 million of the vehicles Ford said it is recalling are in the United States. That figure is only 2,200 shy of the total number of vehicles that Ford recalled in the United States during all of last year.

Automakers are giving heightened scrutiny to safety issues in the wake of General Motors Co's ongoing safety crisis that began with an ignition-switch issue in older-model cars.

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So far this year, GM has recalled 15.8 million vehicles worldwide.

Analyst Karl Brauer of Kelley Blue Book said Ford's spate of recalls on Thursday may be "driven by the heightened sense of concern all automakers are feeling right now, though we'll likely never know for sure."

Brauer added that there have been so many recalls since February when GM issued its first ignition-switch recall that the actions have become "sort of background white noise for consumers."

Ford said it will recall 195,527 Explorer SUVs in North America from the 2011 to 2013 model years and 915,216 Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner SUVs from model years 2008 to 2011 on power steering issues.

In addition, it will recall nearly 200,000 Taurus sedans in North America from the 2010 to 2014 model years on a corrosion issue.

Finally, Ford is also recalling 82,576 sedans with floor mats that may interfere with the operation of accelerator pedals. The floor mats were put in 2006 to 2011 model year Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan and Lincoln Zephyr and MKZ sedans.

The loss of power steering can increase the risk of a crash when vehicles are traveling at lower rates of speed.

US regulators have received consumer reports of six injuries and five crashes related to the Escape and Mariner models, Ford said.

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