US regulators open 2 investigations into Ford recalls just days after penalizing the company

Just days after announcing a civil fine against Ford for moving too slowly on a recall, the U.S. government unveiled two investigations into recalls that may not have worked or covered enough vehicles. The largest probe covers about 457,000 Bronco Sport SUVs and Maverick small pickups. In April Ford recalled some of the vehicles because they can suddenly lose power. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will investigate whether the recall was effective. The other probe covers about 113,000 Ford Expeditions. Ford recalled about 78,000 of the SUVs in February because the seat belts can tighten up and hold people with no crash apparent. The agency says it has complaints about the problem from three owners whose vehicles were not part of the recall. Ford said it’s cooperating.