Federal safety officials have opened four separate safety investigations into the Ford Focus, the world’s best-selling car, according to the Detroit News website.
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The newspaper said the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating claims that drivers have been burned by deploying air bags and that the Focus’ air bags sometimes inflate when they shouldn’t.
The Detroit News said the NHTSA is also looking into reports of faulty rear-wheel bearings and engine fires in 2000 model Focus vehicles.
Ford spokesman Todd Nissen told the newspaper that the company is aware of the investigations and is co-operating.
NHTSA has received reports of 16 consumers who claim to have been burned, the Detroit News said. The burns were mostly second and third-degree injuries to arms and hands caused by thermal gas from the air bags. Two car fires also were reported, the newspaper added.
The newspaper added that the NHTSA is also investigating 29 complaints alleging that the Focus air bag deployed in a slow-speed crash or when no crash occurred. The air bag investigations cover 575,000 vehicles from the 2000-01 model years.
The Detroit News said that the US version of the subcompact Focus [built in plants in both the continental US and Hermosillo, Mexico] has been plagued by a number of recalls and quality problems since launch in 2000.
