Ford to pay $17.4mn in US settlement over slow recall

A customer shops for a vehicle at a Ford dealership in Torrance, California on Tuesday. Ford Motor Co agreed to pay nearly $17.4mn in a settlement with US auto safety regulators for failing to act quickly enough last year to recall vehicles with a defect that may cause unintended acceleration. Ford and regulators reached the settlement “in order to avoid a protracted dispute and possible litigation,” according to the settlement document dated June 28. Ford paid the settlement on July 26, according to the website of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The NHTSA had asked Ford, the No 2 US automaker, to recall nearly 424,000 Ford Escape sport-utility vehicles with a defect that caused a stuck throttle when the accelerator pedal was fully or almost fully depressed. The Escapes were from the 2001 to 2004 model years.