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"the-hood fire could happen    * Escape No. 1 SUV in U.S. market in 2011    By Bernie Woodall    July 19 (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co told owners of thebest-selling SUV in the United States on Thursday to stopdriving 2013 model Ford Escape with 1.6-liter enginesimmediately due to the risk of an engine fire.    Ford recalled about 11,500 new 2013 model Ford Escape SUVswith 1.6-liter engines, of which about 4,800 were sold tocustomers in the U.S. and Canadian markets, the company said.Most of the rest are on dealer lots.    Only Ford Escape with 1.6-liter engines sold in the U.S. andCanadian markets are affected by the recall and fire risk, Fordsaid.    It is extremely rare for an automaker to warn drivers tostop driving their vehicles immediately.    Ford is telling owners to contact their local Ford dealersimmediately so that loaner vehicles can be delivered and theirEscapes picked up to be taken to the dealerships for repair.    Ford said an under-the-hood fire could happen due to anengine compartment fuel line that could split and leak fuel.    Marcey Zwiebel, Ford spokeswoman, said that if consumersquickly contact their dealers, replacement of the fuel line inall of the affected Escapes can be repaired within two weeks.    &amp;quot;It's a liability thing on their part,&amp;quot; said Aaron Bragmanof IHS Global Insight. &amp;quot;They don't want people driving it if itshappened when they were just shuttling them at the plant.&amp;quot;    Bragman referred to the fact that of the three incidents ofunder-the-hood fires reported by Ford, two occurred at theproduction plant as they were being shuttled from assembly lineto a parking lot to await shipment.    Zwiebel said that Ford is hopeful that consumers will seethis as an issue that the automaker fixed quickly and alertedthem in a timely fashion.    &amp;quot;This is not a routine action that we are taking but we dobelieve it is appropriate in these circumstances,&amp;quot; said Zwiebel.    Zwiebel said there have been no injuries reported, and thatone of the fires was reported in an Escape in consumer hands,near Toronto.    Of the 11,500 recalled Escapes, 9,300 are in the UnitedStates and the remainder in Canada, Zwiebel said.    It was the second recall for the 2013 Ford Escape thismonth. Earlier, Ford recalled 8,266 Escape due to improperpositioning of carpet that may reduce clearance for the brakepedal.     In 2011, the Escape, a small SUV, was the best-sellingsports utility vehicle in the U.S. market when 254,300 weresold. But none of those are affected by the fuel line issue.    Also not affected by the fire risk recall and stop drivingrecommendation are 2013 model Escapes with 2.0- and 2.5-literengines.    Ford said that about 10 percent of the new model FordEscapes sold have 2.5-liter engines and the rest are aboutevenly split between the 1.6- and 2.0-liter engines.    The redesigned Escape began to sell throughout North Americaonly last month. Consumers began buying them soon after theybegan production at the Louisville, Kentucky assembly plant thatwas revamped last year to make the new Escape.    Michelle Krebs, analyst with Edmunds.com, said the Escape isan important vehicle for Ford.    &amp;quot;Since the Escape is one of Ford's highest volume models, itis critically important that it addresses the problem quicklyand properly, which is what it appears to be is doing,&amp;quot; saidanalyst Michelle Krebs with Edmunds.com.    The Escape has lost the title as best-selling small SUV,also known as crossovers, in the first half of this year to theHonda Motor Co CR-V, which has seen sales rise 32percent compared to the 4-percent sales gain for Escape.    The 2012 CR-V was also recalled on Thursday, for door lockissues. [ID: nL2E8IJ2WY]    Dealers were also told to stop selling 2013 Ford Escape SUVswith 1.6-liter engines until they are repaired.    &amp;quot;We have identified an issue and are taking quick actions inthe best interest of our customers,&amp;quot; said Ray Nevi, assistantdirector, Ford Automotive Safety Office.    &amp;quot;Our intensive investigation and testing has identified thearea of concern and we are moving as quickly as possible torepair vehicles for our customers. In the meantime, it isextremely important that affected customers not ignore thisrecall and immediately contact their dealer.&amp;quot;    The Escape with the 1.6-liter engine involved in the recalland with the problem were made through July 11, Ford said."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://in.reuters.com/article/ford-recall-idINL2E8IJ6ON20120719>