Ford and Volkswagen recall hundreds of thousands of vehicles — AP, ABC

Ford has announced a recall of 552,188 of its 2014 F-150 pickup trucks because shifting into a lower gear can cause the driver to lose control of the vehicle. Ford expects only 1 percent of the recalled pickups to have the defect.

The recall comes after NHTSA launched its own investigation into the problem in March - the regulator received numerous complaints about pickup trucks unexpectedly shifting into 1st gear.

The automaker is aware of 482 vehicles with the problem, as well as 2 injuries and 1 accident related to the defect.

Volkswagen is recalling 271,330 2021-2024 Atlas SUVs as well as 2020-2024 Atlas Cross Sport SUVs because the front passenger airbag may fail to deploy in a crash.

VW said it has 1,730 warranty claims that may be related to the problem.