Safety fears as Ford breaks record for recalls this year
It's been a blistering year of recalls for America's most iconic automaker. Ford — the Detroit-based SUV, truck, and sportscar maker — posted another NHTSA safety bulletin on Tuesday, it's 89th this year. That is more than any other automaker has ever posted in an entire year. Ford hit that record in just over six months.
The next most recalled vehicle producer is camper producer Forest River, with 21. Chrysler (18 recalls), Volkswagen (17 recalls), General Motors (15 recalls) , Honda (14 recalls), and Mercedes-Benz (13 recalls) are the next five most-recalled mass automakers in the US. Combined, their 77 recalls this year are still fewer than Ford's alone.
Ford said this year's spike in recalls is in part attributed to a growing team of safety and technical experts who are conducting more research on their vehicles. 'Ford has significantly improved product quality,' a company spokesperson told DailyMail.com. 'The increase in recalls reflects our intensive strategy to quickly find and fix any hardware and software issues and go the extra mile to protect customers.'
The company previously told DailyMail.com that around half its recalls were fixed with over-the-air updates that don't require owners to bring their vehicles to a dealership. So far, nine of the recalls are expansions of previously-released safety warnings. But, some of this year's new recalls needed physical parts replacements and scary cautions. A July 8 NHTSA bulletin said around 850,000 vehicles cars produced between 2022 and 2023 needed to be checked for a fuel pump failure.
The cars included on that recall list, including some of the company's best-selling F-Series models, risked 'engine stalling while driving.' Other issues, like a June product warning , said 304,662 Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator SUVs built between 2020 and 2025 might have a faulty part in the second row, resulting in seats 'unlatching, folding, or sliding unexpectedly while driving.' Not all vehicles required new parts.
Recalls have been a long-running issue for the automaker. Ford led the industry in recalls in 2022 and 2023 before dropping to third place in 2024. In a 2024 earnings call, Ford CEO Jim Farley said the company spent $4.8 billion annually on recalls. The top boss said the company was working through the parts issues, and unveiled a 'build and hold' model for several US-assembled models.
After the products rolled out of Ford production plants, cars would pause in large holding lots, allowing engineers to assess their build quality. At the time, Farley said the new process helped the company avoid 12 safety and technical recalls. It also temporarily cut into profits. 'Our earnings may be a little lumpy,' he said during an April 2024 earnings call.
'What we're going to see long term is fewer recalls and lower warranty costs because of this new process.' So far, Ford dealers speaking to the Wall Street Journal said most of the parts problems have been easily-solved by their in-house mechanics. Still, they wished the recalls would slow down.
'I don't fault them for some of these new technology changes that happen so fast, as they've got to put them in to keep up with competition,' Jim Seavitt, a dealership employee in Michigan told the publication. 'But the quality has remained the same. There's too many recalls.'
