Ford Australia begins airbag recall

Ford Australia has started a national outreach campaign to repair 16,701 Ford Mondeos affected by the Takata airbag recall.

Ford Mondeo models built between 2007-2009 and 2014-2017 are affected by the Takata recall.

As part of its ongoing airbag recall work, Ford is contacting affected Mondeo owners to advise that they need to have their potentially faulty driver’s side Takata airbag inflators replaced.

The repair work is free and takes less than half a day.

Ford is also directly contacting businesses operating Mondeos in their fleets, as the mid-size vehicle is popular with businesses.

Although Ford’s overall Takata recall work was progressing well, Ford Australia President and CEO, Kay Hart urged affected owners not to be complacent.

“If customers have received a recall notice, it’s important they book their vehicle in for repairs at any of our Ford dealers nationally,” Hart said. “I encourage any customer who receives a notice not to delay and book in for their free repair.”

Hart said the company had a plentiful supply of replacement inflators for all affected models. So far Ford Dealers nationally have repaired 53,799 vehicles, including Mondeos.

“We’re really pleased with the response from owners and while we have a 61 per cent completion rate, we still have a long way to go to ensure every affected Ford vehicle is accounted for, and the faulty Takata inflators are replaced."

Hart also praised the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries’ communications campaign, supported by the affected OEMs, which had helped lift consumer awareness of the Takata recall.

“After the FCAI campaign started in July, we saw a lift in website traffic to our dedicated recall page and because of the widespread reach of this campaign, consumers are more aware of the dangers caused by a misdeployment involving a Takata airbag."

“Anyone can check if their vehicle is impacted by entering their VIN on our Takata Recall page at ford.com.au,” Hart said.