Ford Motor Co. will recall 3 million older models with potentially dangerous air bag inflators at an estimated cost of $610 million, reports said Friday.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ordered Ford this week to make the recall because of the hazard - dismissing the car manufacturer's 2017 petition to avoid it.
According to the administration, the ammonium nitrate propellant used to inflate the airbags is showing signs of decay and poses a safety risk.
Ford filed a form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that addressed the recall. The cost will be reflected as a special item in Ford's 2020 fourth quarter financial results, which the Blue Oval - an independent website devoted to news and other information about Ford - is set to disclose Feb. 4.
Shares of Ford were down 2.2% in extended trading after it said in a filing that it will be initiating a field service action to replace Takata Corp.-made air bag pumps in certain vehicles from model years 2006-2012. Ford shares settled at $11.53 a share, the stock's highest close since June 2018.
The recall will affect around 2.9 million vehicles in the U.S. and roughly 300,000 in Canada and other locations, Ford - with a market cap of more than $45 billion - said.
In a statement, Ford said the company believed its extensive data showed that "a safety recall was not warranted for the driver-side air bag. However, we respect NHTSA's decision and will issue a recall."
The flaw, which in rare instances causes air bag inflators to rupture and send potentially deadly metal parts flying, prompted the biggest automotive recall in U.S. history involving more than 67 million inflators.
The problem has been connected to the deaths of at least 27 people around the world and 18 in the U.S., Reuters reported. Internationally, around 100 million inflator systems installed by 19 major car companies have been recalled.
