Washington - Ford Motor Company Tuesday launched the largest single recall in its history, alerting owners to a fire hazard, the Wall Street Journal reported online. The recall involves the cruise-control deactivation switches on 4.5 million vehicles. It was the latest in eight recalls involving a total of 16 million car ands trucks by Ford due to the faulty switch, which is made by Texas Instruments, the Journal reported.
Tuesday's recall focussed on about 1.1 million Ford Windstar minivans manufactured from 1995 through 2003.
The remaining models in the recall - Explorer, Excursion and Mercury Mountaineer sport-utility vehicles; F-Super Duty and Ranger pickup trucks; Econoline vans; and F53 motorhomes - were also named as a precaution, the Journal reported, quoting a Ford official.
There have been no reported injuries or fatalities from the problem, Ford said. The 20-dollar switch would be replaced in the recall.
In other developments on Tuesday, Ford reached tentative agreement with the United Auto Workers (UAW) union that would ban some strikes for six years and freeze wages for new hires, Bloomberg financial news service reported, quoting people familiar with the talks.
The union was closeted on Tuesday considering the proposed changes, starting at 1700 GMT.
The agreement would be similar to concessions made by the UAW to General Motors and Chrysler, which emerged from bankruptcy earlier this year with government help.
Ford is the only one of the big three US car makers to not have asked for a government bailout.
"This is going to very difficult to pass because people are angry about the no-strike clause and giving any more concessions," Gary Walkowicz, a UAW official at a Ford truck plant in Dearborn, Michigan, was quoted as saying. "Ford is out there talking about how theyre doing better than the other companies. We feel like weve given enough."
Ford says the concessions would help ensure its long-term competitiveness.
