Ford recalls F-series pickups, Edge, Lincoln MKX

DETROIT (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co is recalling about 20,000 new vehicles in North America, mainly its heavy duty pickup trucks, due to the chance than an electrical short could cause a fire, Ford and U.S. federal regulators said on Thursday.

Ford will inform owners of its F-series pickups, small sports utility vehicles Edge and Lincoln MKX of the potential problem by January 10, according to a filing with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

About 15,000 of the affected vehicles were sold in the United States, and most of the rest in Canada, said Wes Sherwood, Ford spokesman.

Sherwood said the automaker is not aware of any injuries, crashes or fires resulting from the issue.

In a six-day period, a supplier not identified by Ford made body control modules that may produce an electrical short, Ford told NHTSA in a filing.

Sherwood said the suspect vehicles were built between late October and mid-November.

"If an electrical short develops, an overheating condition may occur which can result in an unattended vehicle fire," the NHTSA filing said.

Of the nearly 20,000 vehicles affected, 13,200 are Super Duty F-Series trucks, which are the F-250, the F-350 and the F-450 models.

Some 476 F-150 pickup trucks were affected. That model is the biggest selling vehicle in North America.

About 6,200 Edge and MKX models are affected, Sherwood said.

Edge and MKX are also known as crossover vehicles, because they are built on a car platform rather than a truck platform as are larger SUVs.

Ford will pay for repairs performed at Ford dealerships. Sherwood said the repair time is relatively short, but he did not specify how long each repair will take or how much they will cost the automaker.

(Reporting by Bernie Woodall; Editing by Derek Caney, Dave Zimmerman)