????2013款翼虎（Escape）SUV是福特汽車公司（Ford Motor Co.）產品線里的新丁，不過它剛一推出就遇到了麻煩。福特公司要求購買了這款新車的顧客立即停止駕駛該車型，以避免自燃風險。

????需要召回的這一批次共有11,500輛，這批車輛產自肯塔基州路易斯威爾市的福特工廠。我們尚不清楚該設計缺陷到底導致多少輛新翼虎受到了影響。不過受影響的車型僅限于搭載了1.6升Ecoboost發動機的新翼虎。

????這已經不是新翼虎的第一次召回了。新翼虎基于2000年推出的一個馬自達（Mazda）平臺，對老款翼虎進行了全盤的重新設計。不過之前就有車主表示，由于新翼虎的中控臺左側面板存在設計缺陷，因此車主在踩油門時很容易誤觸剎車踏板。美國國家公路交通安全局（US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration）和福特公司對這個問題進行了調查，并于幾周前下令對涉事車輛進行召回。現在福特正在更換中控面板。

????雖然福特目前尚未收到由于新翼虎的設計缺陷而導致傷亡的報告，但這兩次召回無疑都給此次新車型的發布抹上了污點，同時也削弱了消費者對新翼虎的需求，況且消費者的購車需求本來就還沒有恢復到2008年經濟崩潰以前的水平。

????不過福特也正在耐心地做解釋工作，并且盡可能地向車主提供各種支持服務，比如在召回期間為車主租賃代步車輛等等，以使福特公司和經銷商避免遭遇2010年到2011年豐田（Toyota）召回危機期間那樣慘痛的災難。豐田后來承認，在對突然加速等問題進行調查的過程中，沒有即時、適當地向媒體、監管機構和公眾發布信息。

????福特公司發言人瑪爾西?茨韋貝爾稱：“我們真的是在努力地消費者做正確的事。這次我們采取的舉措是非常規的。一般來說，我們只是給客戶寄一封信，告訴他們把車子開過來接受服務或更換缺陷零部件。”

????汽車網站Edmunds.com的高級分析師米歇爾?克雷布斯稱：“對于福特來說，翼虎的這些問題遲早會平息下去。不過福特必須保證即將上市的新款福星（Fusion）順利發布。因為中型家轎是一個競爭很激烈的市場，絕對不能出任何岔子。”

????新翼虎第一次起火是在7月4號，發生在福特的裝配工廠。后來又發生了兩起自燃事故，福特認定它們之間是有關聯的，這才在7月19日做出召回決定。

????根據福特公司的解釋，這三起自燃事故的根本原因是由于一家供應商生產的燃油線路存在“刮傷”或劃痕，不過福特并未披露這家供應商的名字。這根連接在發動機上的破損管線可能會發生破裂，進而導致燃油泄露并起火燃燒。有兩次自燃都發生在向顧客交車之前，也就是說當時是福特的員工在駕駛汽車。另一起火車輛當時則正在由顧客駕駛，我們還不清楚這名顧客的身份。不過福特表示沒有人受傷。

????茨韋貝爾表示，更換受損的燃油線路只需不到一個小時就能完成，所有召回車輛“在一周內”就會修理好。

????新翼虎與新款福克斯依托于同一平臺，起價為22,500美元，它的競爭對手是本田（Honda）CR-V、豐田RAV4、馬自達CX-5和起亞智跑（Kia Sportage）等緊湊型SUV。它的造型則借鑒了歐版的福特Kuga。

????顯然，福特希望通過開放和透明的處理方式來平息新款SUV的技術缺陷和自燃風險所帶來的任何負面影響。

????譯者：樸成奎

????The 2013 Escape sport-utility vehicle, a rookie in Ford Motor Co.'s product lineup, stumbled in the starting blocks last week as the automaker ordered owners of the model to park their new cars immediately to avert the danger of a fire.

????The design flaw leading to the fire danger affected an unknown number of vehicles in a group of 11,500 Escapes that were built at Ford's Louisville, Kentucky manufacturing plant. Only Escapes equipped with a 1.6-liter Ecoboost engines were affected.

????It wasn't the first glitch. The new model, a comprehensive redesign of the Escape SUV based on a Mazda platform introduced in 2000, was a few weeks earlier recalled after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Ford opened an investigation into reports by drivers that their right foot might improperly move from accelerator to brake due to faulty design of a panel in the center console. Ford is replacing the panel.

????Though Ford has no reports of injuries or deaths the two safety recalls mar its new-model launch at a time when automakers are contending against each other and weak consumer demand, which hasn't yet recovered to the level prior to the 2008 economic collapse.

????But Ford it taking pains to be accommodating to requests for information as well as providing support such as loaner cars so the automaker and dealers may avoid a debacle such as the one that engulfed Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) in 2010-2011. Toyota admitted that its investigation into spectacular claims of unintended acceleration failed to provide adequate and timely information to media, regulators and the public.

????"We are really trying to do what's right on behalf of the consumer," said Marcey Zweibel, a Ford (F) spokesperson. "The steps we have taken aren't routine. Normally we send a letter and tell people to bring the vehicle in" for service or replacement of defective parts.

????Michelle Krebs, a senior analyst for Edmunds.com, said "these Escape problems will die down for Ford. But it has to get the impending launch of its new Fusion midsize family sedan right. That's such a competitive segment, no one can afford to have any slipps."

????The first fire took place at Ford's assembly plant on July 4. Two more blazes were detected before the automaker concluded the three were related and ordered the return of the affected vehicles on July 19.

????As Ford explained, the root of problem that caused three fires was a "scored" or scratched fuel line manufactured by a Ford supplier whose identity wasn't disclosed. The scored line that attached to the engine can split, thereby causing a fuel leak and combustion. Two of the three fires occurred when Ford employees were driving the car prior to their delivery to customers. One unidentified customer was driving an Escape that caught fire. Ford said no one was injured.

????Zweibel said the replacement of the fuel line takes less than an hour and all recalled vehicles will be repaired "within a few weeks."

????The new Escape, based on the same architecture as the new Ford Focus, starts at $22,500 and competes against the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, Mazda CX-5 and Kia Sportage. The styling borrows cues for the Ford Kuga sold in Europe.

????Ford clearly is counting on openness and transparency to overcome whatever negatives the technical glitches and shocking threat of fire have caused its new SUV.