Ford Recalls 2022 Maverick Pickups for Bad Airbags

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Ford Motor Company is recalling 2022 Mavericks because the side-curtain air bags may not deploy properly. These Maverick pickup trucks fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 226, “Ejection Mitigation.” Almost 65,000 2022 model year Mavericks with build dates from February 3, 2021 through July 9, 2022 are affected. Owners won’t be notified until the last week of September. Ford is still investigating the root cause of this safety defect. The left- and right-side curtain airbags that are the problem were built in Mexico.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration discovered the problem in June of 2022 during a FMVSS 226 compliance audit on a 2022 model year Maverick. The displacement results for the front lower primary target were 111.9 mm, which exceeds the federal regulation of 100 mm. Side curtain air bags that may not meet the displacement requirements of FMVSS 226 S4.2.1 Ejection increase the risk of injury in a crash. No warning of the existence of potential deadly problem occurs before an accident.

In the required NHTSA filing made public this week Ford said: “Ford’s investigation included analyzing raw data from the NHTSA test vehicle and comparing it to the raw data from the Ford certification test vehicle. Ford’s analysis of all the NHTSA test data has not identified an explanation for the total difference in performance between the NHTSA test vehicle and the Ford certification test vehicle.

“In July 2022, Ford conducted FMVSS 226 certification testing, including the front lower primary target, on a 2022 model year Maverick equipped with new current batch side curtain air bags from the assembly plant. The displacement results of three samples tested at the front lower primary target were between 102 and 107.3 mm. The data from this recent test was compared to the data in Ford’s certification test from December 2020 and there were no root causes identified to explain the difference in performance. The root cause analysis is still under investigation. A Stop Ship was issued at Ford’s Hermosillo Assembly Plant (HSAP) on July 12, 2022. Throughout this investigation, Ford and NHTSA discussed daily the status of Ford’s testing, test results, and conclusions.”

Dealers will replace the left and right side-curtain air bag modules with a new design. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed September 22, 2022. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford’s number for this latest recall is 22C20. Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.nhtsa.gov.