Regardless of whether overt fraud is suspected or not, after the numerous emissions scandals that have rocked the global auto industry over the past ten years (Volkswagen diesel-fuel emissions scandal being the most memorable and probably the most egregious), headline-scanning algos are bound to react to the word "emissions" in a headline - and that's exactly what happened late Thursday when Ford announced that its workers had discovered an unspecified issue with the techniques used by the company to test whether its cars meet emissions standards.

But there's no obvious reason to panic - at least, not yet. In a statement, Ford claimed that the problems didn't involve "defeat devices" like those Volkswagen admitted were deliberately installed in its cars to circumvent federal regulations - a scandal that resulted in billions of dollars in fines and mass recalls. Some of the company's executives even faced criminal charges.

Ford also said none of its fuel economy ratings had been found to be inaccurate (again, at least not yet).

The issue was reported to the company by employees back in September, prompting an internal probe. The company then reported the issue to the EPA and California regulators this week. An explanation for the lag was not offered.

Ford has hired an outside firm to investigate road load specifications used in its testing, according to a statement.

Breaking: @Ford says it has "become aware of a potential concern involving its U.S. emissions certification process," has voluntarily disclosed it to the EPA. — Ari Natter (@AriNatter) February 21, 2019

Ford says they have hired an outside firm to conduct an investigation into the vehicle road load specifications used in our testing and applications to certify emissions and fuel economy. — Ari Natter (@AriNatter) February 21, 2019

Company statement: “In September, a handful of employees raised a concern through our Speak Up employee reporting channel regarding the analytical modeling that is part of our U.S. fuel economy and emissions compliance process." — Ari Natter (@AriNatter) February 21, 2019

Again, so far, there's no need to panic - yet. But the EPA confirmed Ford's disclosure and said the investigation was "too incomplete" to arrive at any preliminary conclusions. And after a rough year for auto stocks as global sales slumped and Ford said it would shutter production on some poor-selling brands, the last thing the company needs is another scandal.