Federal safety regulators are investigating complaints that accelerators can stick in Ford Tauruses from model years 2005 and 2006. The investigation, opened Wednesday, covers an estimated 360,000 of the sedans. The probe could lead to a recall, but so far none has been ordered by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a federal safety agency.
Sales at Ford Motor rose 24% in November compared to a year ago as demand surged for a wide range of the company's products, the automaker said Wednesday. For the month, Ford said it moved 147,338 vehicles off dealers' lots, up from 118,536 in November 2009.
The U.S. automaker reported a $1.7 billion profit on strong demand for its revamped line of products, despite a lackluster economy. Continued growth at its Ford Credit finance unit also helped push profits higher.
After trailing Asian automakers for more than two decades, U.S. car companies, led by Ford Motor and General Motors, raced ahead of their foreign competition in the latest J.D. Power Initial Quality Study of new vehicles.
