Ford recalls 129,000 sedans to fix wheels

Ford,the No. 2 U. S. automaker,said the issue may stem from wheel mounting pads or rear brake discs that have been incorrectly built and cannot support the wheel.

The sedans were built at Ford8217;s Hermosillo stamping and assembly plant in Mexico in April 2009 and from December 2009 through Nov. 13,2010.

Fusion sales were up about 15 percent for the first 11 months of 2011. The car competes against Honda Motor Co8217;s Accord and Toyota Motor Co8217;s Camry.

The recall also affects vehicles with service steel wheels likely sold between mid-April 2010 and mid-November 2010.

As of Sept. 30,Ford has found six cases in which a wheel has fallen off possibly due to these problems. One front wheel was affected and the other five incidents involved a rear wheel.

Cars with alloy wheels are not affected. Ford said that 128,616 cars were affected by the recall.

Ford8217;s sales have rebounded partly because of the improved quality of its lineup. Still,the company tumbled 10 spots this year on a widely-watched reliability study due to technical glitches in some of its models.