All the Mustang EVs are in the US or Canada.
Ford Motor Company is issuing a safety recall for all 2021 Mustang Mach-E vehicles. Ford said it discovered some vehicles may have sub-frame bolts that an unnamed supplier (Martinrea Honsel in Mexico) did not tighten to specification. Ford also said in a late Friday afternoon release – days before required NHTSA safety recall documents are publicly available, including info on how the defect was determined – that “it is not aware of any accidents or injuries related to this condition.” Condition is pr babble for safety defect.
All of the affected vehicles are in the U.S. and Canada. They will be serviced before customer delivery. This of course is required by US law since dealers cannot deliver vehicles with a safety defect subject to recall. Delivered vehicles are also subject to the recall. Dealers will inspect the sub-frame bolts and tighten if necessary.
Owners who have already received their vehicles will be notified beginning the week of March 22. The Ford reference number for this recall is 21S09, which under Ford’s traditional recall nomenclature means that there have been nine safety defect recalls this year.
Chronology
On 13 February 2021, a Squeak and Rattle audit at Ford Cuautitlan (Mexico) Stamping and Assembly Plant identified a noise coming from the front suspension of a vehicle. The team identified the cause of the noise to be loose bolts on the front subframe.
Further investigation determined that the supplier had insufficient torque controls in the assembly station that secures the front subframe to the lower load path. A modification to the assembly station on 21 January 2021 affected the securing of the bolts and enabled an operator to release assembly without the torque completed.
The Ford team determined based upon plant records that the vehicles with suspect front subframes were built between 21 January and 15 February 2021.
On March 3, 2021, Ford’s Field Review Committee reviewed information and approved a recall.