The defect
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2013-2017 Ford Focus hatchback vehicles manufactured February 14, 2012, to August 26, 2016 and equipped with a manual transmission. The hatchback of the affected vehicles may be unlatched with a single press of the interior latch release button. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 206, "Door Locks and Door Retention Components."
The risk
With only a single press needed, the driver may accidently unlatch the hatchback, increasing the risk of injury to any unsecured passengers in the back.
The remedy
Ford will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the Body Control Module with updated software, free of charge. The recall began February 10, 2017. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 16C13.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by OVSC
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Ford Focus | 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 |
Components: STRUCTURE:BODY:HATCHBACK/LIFTGATE | LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES:HATCHBACK/LIFTGATE:LOCK
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ford Focus | 2013 | 2,112 | 11 |
| Ford Focus | 2014 | 2,604 | 12 |
| Ford Focus | 2015 | 1,022 | 9 |
| Ford Focus | 2016 | 1,183 | 10 |
| Ford Focus | 2017 | 900 | 10 |
Other latches/locks/linkages recalls in 2016
8 of the 919 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2016 concerned the latches/locks/linkages; Ford Motor Company filed 737 campaigns in all.
| 16V843000 21 Nov 2016 | Hyundai Motor America |
| 16V643000 6 Sept 2016 | Ford Motor Company |
| 16V464000 24 Jun 2016 | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. |
| 16V389000 1 Jun 2016 | Kia Motors America |
| 16V348000 24 May 2016 | Hyundai Motor America |
| 16V060000 3 Feb 2016 | Subaru of America, Inc. |
| 16V029000 22 Jan 2016 | Nissan North America, Inc. |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2016