- Ford has already damaged the report for many security recollects in a yr
In 2014, Basic Motors set the report for probably the most security recollects an automaker issued in a yr. Amid a scandal over defective ignition switches, the automaker referred to as again automobiles for pressing repairs 77 occasions.
Ford has issued 89 recollects thus far in 2025. The yr is 53% over.
Ford has issued extra recollects in 2025 than the subsequent 5 automakers mixed.
What Is a Recall?
- A recall is a legally required free repair for a security drawback
Federal legislation requires automakers to repair issues of safety with their automobiles without cost. The legislation additionally requires them to try to contact registered house owners to allow them to know of the issue. The federal authorities’s Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration (NHTSA) oversees the method.
Nearly each automaker points just a few recollects yearly. Automakers constantly inform us their greatest frustration within the course of is house owners who ignore recall notices.
Not each high quality drawback is a security drawback. Peeling paint gained’t set off a recall, however a defective airbag or an element that may fall off into visitors will.
The legislation technically lets automakers off the hook 15 years after a automobile is first offered. However many automakers proceed to restore even older automobiles without cost. In significantly threatening circumstances, they might even ask drivers to cease utilizing automobiles altogether and order sellers to cease promoting them till they’re fastened.
Ford Had Been Making Progress
- Ford led the auto business in recollects for a number of years, however did higher in 2024
The information is especially devastating for Ford as a result of the corporate had been making progress on an outdated recall drawback.
Ford led the auto business in recollects in each 2022 and 2023. It paid a $165 million fantastic and entered right into a consent decree with NHTSA requiring a plan to handle its recall drawback.
Final yr, the corporate employed a brand new head of high quality and held tens of hundreds of automobiles for additional inspections earlier than delivering them to sellers. It appeared to be working. In 2024, Tesla and Stellantis shared the doubtful recall crown.
So, What Occurred?
- A software program audit compelled Ford to repeat some older recollects
- Even with out these repeats, the corporate leads the business in recollects
There’s no single rationalization for Ford’s nightmare 2025 recall problem. However there’s an evidence for greater than a 3rd of it. Thirty-three of the 89 have been partial repeats of outdated recollects.
Many recollects in as we speak’s automobiles relate to software program issues. Early this yr, Ford found an issue with the way in which its sellers uploaded software program fixes.
The system they used may sometimes report success even when an add failed. Ford developed a brand new course of to repair that, and launched an audit of software-related recollects from prior years.
“The overwhelming majority of recall repairs had been profitable, with the right software program model put in on the related module,” Ford says. However, in lots of prior recollects, a small proportion of automobiles didn’t get the right replace.
Sellers believed they’d, and returned the automobiles to house owners as fastened.
Ford’s audits recognized the automobiles that had been lacking the updates. Thirty-three occasions thus far in 2025, the corporate has issued a second recall to convey again these automobiles to have the right software program put in.
Take away these 33, nevertheless, and Ford nonetheless has 56 recollects, barely greater than midway by means of the yr. Ford would possibly beat GM’s 2014 report even with out the software program audit at that tempo.
What Is Ford Doing About It?
- Ford has employed extra inspectors and elevated inside testing
- Executives are spending time on manufacturing unit flooring
Ford has taken a number of steps to handle the problem.
An organization spokesperson instructed business publication Automotive Information that Ford “has greater than doubled its group of security and technical specialists up to now two years and considerably elevated testing to failure on vital techniques resembling powertrains, steering, and braking.”
The corporate can be “turning to in-house options resembling AI-powered software program techniques to assist catch defects extra rapidly,” AN reviews.
Fan website Ford Authority reviews executives have additionally begun conducting “gemba walks” — a Japanese method that entails visiting manufacturing unit flooring to check how work is carried out and work together instantly with front-line staff.
