Ford India has issued a voluntary recall for 42,300 units of their cars – which comprise of both the new Figo hatchback and the new Figo Aspire compact-sedan. The units included in the recall include all the units made at the company's plant in Sanand, Gujarat from launch to 12th April, 2016 – Ford had dispatched 35,170 units of both the cars combined to dealers till the end of March 2016.
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Check out our review of the Ford Figo Aspire here!
According to Ford, the units of the Figo and the Figo Aspire which are part of this recall suffer from a software problem in the Restraint Control Module (RCM) fitted to them. The software error is not confirmed on all the cars which are part of this recall, but the company is not taking any chances.
The RCM – in simple terms – helps the car decide when to deploy the airbags available in the car. It is critical for the airbags to deploy at the right time and in the right circumstances to save lives and reduce injuries. The RCM simplifies the effort required to activate an airbag: apart from relying on a few sensors used to sense a crash, the RCM also has in-built inertia-measuring devices which are more sensitive and effective at measuring a crash.
Check out our review of the Ford Figo hatchback!
The Figo hatchback is offered with a driver-side airbag on the base trim, while the Ambiente, Trend and Titanium variants are fitted with dual front airbags. The top-of-the-line Titanium Plus variant is fitted with 6-airbags in total. The Figo Aspire meanwhile is fitted with dual front airbags as standard, with the top-of-the-line Titanium Plus getting 6 airbags.
The software glitch means that the RCM installed in the affected Figos and Figo Aspires may not function as required during certain types of crashes, subsequently not deploying the airbags and resulting in injuries to passengers. No incidents have been reported where the software failure has prompted airbags in the Figo or the Figo Aspire to not deploy, Ford recommends that all users with cars in the aforementioned manufacturing dates contact their nearest Ford service centre. The software of the RCM will be updated to remove the glitch, the process should not take much time and will be carried out free of cost at all Ford authorised service stations across the country.
Ford had to stop deliveries of new cars from Ford dealerships in the country when they discovered the problem earlier this month, now deliveries of the cars have resumed as they have been updated with the new RCM software.
While the Figo and the Figo Aspire are the latest additions to the Ford range of cars in India, they have not been able to match the popularity of the EcoSport individually. The Figo siblings have had a tough time matching up to the likes of the Maruti Swift siblings in terms of sales.