Ford recalls 1.74 million vehicles in rearview camera defect

Ford is recalling 1.74 million vehicles in the United States over a rearview camera defect that may prevent images from displaying, reducing the driver's view behind the vehicle, Reuters reported citing the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The recall is the largest of three within roughly two weeks. Honda's 880,514-vehicle recall of Pilot, Ridgeline, Passport and Acura MDX SUVs over rear-suspension failure remains active, the Associated Press has reported, and Volvo Cars announced a recall this week of more than 40,000 EX30 electric SUVs because battery packs risk overheating.

The Ford figure pushes the cumulative U.S. recall tally past 4.7 million vehicles over a two-week window — a striking volume even by industry standards. The rearview camera defect itself is on the milder end of safety issues, but the recall is the second major Ford action of the month, following the company's 255,404-vehicle re-recall of Focus sedans whose dealer-performed stalling repair had not been completed correctly.

For Ford owners, the new action raises the same diligence question: how to confirm a dealer correctly performs the camera-software fix when notification letters go out.

The Waymo robotaxi unit of Alphabet, separately, issued a voluntary recall of roughly 3,900 fifth-generation autonomous vehicles after 13 documented cases in which the vehicles entered active highway construction zones in Phoenix and the San Francisco area, CNBC reported. It is Waymo's second recall in just over a month. The company said it has temporarily restricted freeway operations while it implements software improvements.