Cape Town - Ford is facing a class-action lawsuit from more than 20 owners of its Kuga model across South Africa, including the family of a man who died in one of the SUVs which is alleged to have “spontaneously combusted”.
In an email response to the Weekend Argus, Ford SA would not be drawn into revealing how many fire probes were under way, only stating that investigations into “alleged incidents” were being looked into.
“But I want to stress that we are not aware of any other injuries associated with alleged fires in Ford Kugas,” said spokeswoman Alisea Chetty.
In a leaked fire investigation report by Fire Wise Consultants, it was revealed that some 139 917 vehicles affected by a recall of 150 000 Ford Kugas (2014 models) in the US, were at risk of localised overheating of the cylinder head, which could lead to an oil leak resulting in a fire.
There is yet to be a recall in South Africa.
A recent case of such a fire alleged to have started from the bonnet of a Ford Kuga owned by Vivienne Jordaan from Cape Town is due in courts soon.
Her 2014 model with 83 000km on the odometer burst into flames on November 17.
Jordaan, a sales representative, said: “I was driving between our offices at round 11am. In Bellville, I noticed smoke coming from my dashboard. I tried to brake, but my brakes did not work and I was trying to bring myself to a halt on the busy R300. The front of my car burst into flames and I grabbed my bag and the work laptop and ran.”
She took videos and pictures to document the damage. “I had been negotiating with Ford for three weeks. My car I bought brand new. They are refusing to take responsibility and I will be suing for damages,” she said.
The family of Reshall Jimmy is also taking the vehicle giant to court.
He died while trapped in his 2014 model Ford Kuga SUV on December 4 last year.
Jimmy, 33, who had been working at a digital marketing and advertising agency, was travelling to George in his one year-old Kuga when it allegedly exploded in the seaside town of Wilderness.
Jimmy was trapped in the car - so hot that the safety glass had melted at 760°C, according to a fire investigation report.
The severity of the inferno was such that nobody could approach the vehicle to extinguish the fire.
By the time the fire services arrived, Jimmy had died.
Internationally respected forensic scientist, David Klatzow, who was hired by the family to inspect the circumstances surrounding Jimmy’s death, concluded the fire had started in the front of the passenger compartment under the dashboard.
Ford disputed this, saying the company’s examination pointed to the fire starting at the rear of the vehicle and not the engine compartment.
“That is clearly evidenced by the level of fire damage to the rear and the relative lack of damage to the front of the Kuga.
"We also evaluated prior demonstrations on other vehicles to determine fire behaviour and progression.
"We found no evidence of an electrical or other vehicle origin for the fire,” said Chetty.
A fire investigation report prepared by the Eastern Cape police also concluded an electrical fault was the cause of the fire that killed Jimmy and originated at the front passenger side.
“Ford have been anything but forthcoming. They promised to make available diagrams of the wiring - one year down the line we have received nothing. All we got was a demand by Ford that they examine the vehicle for the third time and an investigator’s report that contradicted other reports by stating that the fire started in the rear.
“It appears that from the information that is coming through, that this is not the only Ford Kuga that has had problems. They (Ford) have to come up and tell us what the problems are,” said Klatzow.
Jimmy’s brother, Kaveen, said Ford’s handling of the family was inhumane.
He accused the company of failing to release reports for the police investigation to be concluded and of resorting to bully tactics to silence those who spoke about their experiences.
Despite this, Kaveen and his sister Renisha’s efforts had yielded some successes with the uncovery of a video that will shed major light on where the fire actually started.
“With the evidence we have and the people coming forward to contact us, we are in the advanced stages of filling a class action lawsuit. Our current legal team will require the support of additional senior counsel to assist once the state has concluded its investigation into my brother’s death,” he said.
He said more than 20 Ford Kuga owners would be part of the lawsuit, police spokesman Captain Malcolm Pojie confirmed that investigations were still under way.
“Although several inspections has been conducted on the vehicle by independent as well as experts from Ford, no reports has come forth, yet. An application has been made by the investigating officer to have access to these reports. It will be premature to make any arrests or to announce the origin or cause of the fire. As soon as the investigation is concluded we shall submit the docket to the director of public prosecutions for a decision,” he said.