Ford Stops Some China Vehicle Production

Ford Motor Co. has halted production of some full-sized commercial vehicles in China because they contain gas pedals built by the same company behind the accelerators in Toyota Motor Corp.'s recent recall.

Ford spokesman Said Deep said Thursday the diesel version of its Transit Classic built by a Chinese joint venture contains accelerators built by CTS Corp., based in Elkhart, Ind. The vehicles began production in December and only about 1,600 have been produced, he said.

In a statement, Ford partner Jiangling Motors Co. said there have been no reported problems with the Transit Classic, but it is conducting a review of pedal assembly parts to determine the next step. The diesel Transit Classic is the Ford's only vehicle that contains gas pedal parts made by CTS, Deep said.

A CTS spokesman was not immediately available to comment.

Read more about the Toyota recall at CBSNews.com:

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Accelerators made by CTS are at the center of a massive recall and production halt by Toyota over fears that the gas pedals may get stuck and cause unintended acceleration. The recalls and production stoppages have brought the supplier a lot of unwanted attention.

The parts supplier tried to tamp down concerns over its accelerators, saying it knew of fewer than a dozen cases of problems in Toyota vehicles.

CTS makes gas pedal systems for various automakers, though Toyota and Ford are the only ones to announce production stoppages.

"That's part of our routine process - when a company has a recall, you conduct a review and determine if you share any of the same vendors, design, parts," Deep said.

Jiangling has been making a version of the Ford Transit commercial van since the late 1990s and markets its own-brand sport utility vehicle, the Landwind, in China and Europe. The Transit is built in Nanchang in southeastern China.