Ford Recalls 322,000 European Cars Over Potential Battery Acid Leakage

These hiccups translate to lower profitability than ever before, but the Blue Oval isn't done yet.

Automotive News reports that 322,000 passengers cars from the Mondeo, S-Max, and Galaxy families are under recall, vehicles with batteries that "could potentially catch fire due to acid leakage." A spokesman confirmed the campaign to the motoring business publication, but what's the problem per se?

As it happens, acid may leak around the negative terminal of the battery. This leads to the failure of the battery monitoring system's sensor, translating to overheating and the potential risk of spontaneous combustion. Most of the recalled cars – 101,000 of them to be more precise – were sold in Germany while the United Kingdom comes on second place with approximately 56,000 units.

The report doesn't explain how Ford of Europe plans to fix the issue, but knowing that a sensor is the culprit, a different part with an improved design could do the trick. Switching to AGM (absorbed glass mat) batteries could also help, more so when compared to the older design of flooded lead-acid batteries.

As if that wasn't bad enough for the Blue Oval, it's understood that Ford could replace the Mondeo, S-Max, and Galaxy with a crossover, Subaru Outback style. That would make a lot of sense given how poorly the three nameplates sell in this part of the world, and demand for crossovers keeps on rising.

We've also heard the Kuga – also known as Escape in the United States – would receive a seven-seat option with a longer wheelbase in 2020, serving as an indirect replacement for the Edge mid-size crossover and as a more affordable alternative to the Explorer mid-size sports utility vehicle. Like the Focus, this model would use the C2 architecture for front- and all-wheel-drive applications.

Over in Germany, the Mondeo starts at 25,790 euros. The S-Max and Galaxy level up to 28,990 and 30,590 euros, respectively, for their least-equipped trim levels and the base engine-transmission combinations.