Automobile manufacturers seem to have been almost engaged in a spirited competition involving product recalls of their vehicles the past couple years, owing to various design and other defects that increase the risk of car accidents.

Toyota's massive recalls concerning its "sudden acceleration" problems resulted in a voluminous number of product callbacks and major headaches for company executives. General Motors has issued multiple recalls over the past several years and recently offered to buy back from purchasers one of its vehicles that has shown a propensity to catch fire following a crash.

Ford now joins the recall queue, with the company announcing that it wants to bring in several of its vehicle models -- popular in Kentucky as in all other states -- for repairs. In total, repairs could be made on as many as 539,000 Ford SUVs and minivans.

Ford's Escape SUV has a problem with its antilock brake system, which can result in brake fluid leaks. That can, in turn, cause electrical shorts that lead to fires. Ford's continuing concern with this problem is evident, given that a recall concerning the same defect was issued four years ago.

The problem plaguing two of the company's minivan models is different, and potentially more dangerous. Torque converters in an unknown number of the Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey minivans are defective, causing the vehicles to stall out while moving.

In other words, a driver can simply lose the ability to continue moving forward or to reverse, without any warning, while the engine is engaged. Ford acknowledges the obvious danger, but states a vehicle without "motive" power can still be steered off the road and stopped.

Source: Reuters, "Ford recalls 539,000 minivans, SUVs worldwide" Jan. 11, 2012