Everybody likes milestones, unless it’s the one that Ford just reached. The automaker’s recall total reached 88 at the end of June, giving it more safety recalls in the first half of 2025 than any other car company ever has in a full calendar year.
According to The Wall Street Journal, General Motors recorded 77 recalls back in 2014, which Ford easily surpassed earlier this year. Forest River, which makes RVs and related vehicles, recorded the second highest total, but even it only reached 21 recalls in the same period. Ford has held either the first or second spot on the list of the most-recalled automakers since 2020.
To be fair, nine of the 88 recalls were expansions of previous actions, and Ford said that another 33 recalls came as a result of an internal audit of its previous software-related recall fixes. Ford’s belief is that the number of recalls will trail off over time as it roots out issues proactively. That said, the company has issued plenty of first-time recalls for some pretty serious problems.
We’ve covered recent Ford recalls here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Despite this grim benchmark, Ford is still tooting its quality improvement horn, saying four new models had earned high marks in J.D. Power quality studies. Kumar Galhotra, Ford’s COO, said, “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. We believe this approach will lead to systemic and lasting positive change and help us reach world-class levels for quality, safety, and customer satisfaction.”
[Images: Ford]
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