Ford’s Recalls Set YearlyHigh In Six Months

BY RYAN FELTON

Ford Motor has recorded more safety recalls in the first six months of 2025 than any car company ever has in an entire calendar year.

Through the end of June, Ford issued 88 safety recalls, according to federal data. The next closest manufacturer this year, at 21, is recreational-vehicle company Forest River. Since 2020, Ford has either reported the first or second most recalls in the industry.

Ford said nine of its recalls this year are expansions of earlier recalls. In March, the automaker said it was conducting an audit of past recalls that included software fixes as part of the remedy. So far, 33 recalls— about 37% of the total so far this year—have been issued as a result of the continuing audit, Ford said.

On Thursday, Ford said it would recall an additional 850,000 pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles because of a potential fuel-pump failure. A bad fuel pump could result in the engine stalling while a driver is operating the vehicle, according to the recall.

Ford said it has significantly improved product quality in recent years, with four new models winning accolades from a recent J.D. Power study on quality. The company has more than doubled its team of safety and technical experts and expanded testing on critical systems, such as vehicle powertrains, steering and braking.

“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,” said Kumar Galhotra, Ford’s chief operating officer.

Ford’s expectation is that, over time, recall campaigns and the total number of recalled vehicles will drop as a result of these internal changes, company officials said.

“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,” Galhotra said.

Overall, recalls across the auto industry have been rising, with more than 1,000 recorded in 2024, compared with roughly 800 a decade earlier. Many are related to minor issues, such as a faulty interior light and sun visors that don’t stay in place. Some involve significant safety risks, such as exploding air bags and brake failure.

Ford and its chief executive, Jim Farley, have staked out improving quality as a priority for the Dearborn, Mich., automaker. Improving quality will also help to reduce the billions of dollars Ford spends every year on warranty claims and safety recalls. The company hired a quality czar in 2022, and it has tied 70% of executive annual bonuses directly and indirectly to quality.

Jim Seavitt, a car dealer in Dearborn, Mich., near Ford’s headquarters, said the automaker has been listening to dealers about troubles they have had with recalls. Many recent recalls have been resolved easily through software updates applied remotely to cars or quickly at his dealership’s servicing center, he said.

But more complicated fixes that require new parts are frustrating because the updates might result in unsold cars sitting on his lot for months, Seavitt said. “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,” he said. “But the quality has remained the same. There’s too many recalls.”

In June, Ford said it would need to fix nearly 200,000 allelectric Mustang Mach-E SUVs after receiving complaints from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about customers being unable to open their doors as a result of the vehicle’s 12-volt battery dying, including cases where children were trapped inside.

“There was no way for me to get inside my car without jumper cables,” a driver in Houston wrote in an April complaint. The person had to call emergency services and break into the car, the complaint said.

Ford said it wasn’t aware of any injuries or accidents related to the defect. A software update will address the issue. Passengers in the first and second row of the Mach-E that can reach the handles are still able to exit, even if the 12-volt battery doesn’t have power to unlock the doors from the outside, a spokesman said.

Also this year, Ford said it would need to fix nearly half a million 2016-2017 Explorer SUVs, after scrutiny by NHTSA of an issue the automaker addressed in 2019 to prevent door trim from falling off. At the time, Ford didn’t believe the issue required a recall.

But in March, NHTSA, the top auto-safety regulator, told Ford it had received nearly 40 additional complaints from drivers, according to a regulatory filing. Ford investigated the issue further and ultimately decided that the risk—trim falling off and potentially creating a road hazard for other drivers— should be handled in a recall, the filing said.

In January, Ford paid $65 million to the federal government as part of a settlement over alleged violations of autosafety laws, specifically over a delayed recall of 600,000 vehicles with defective rearview cameras. Ford disputed the findings by NHTSA but agreed to the consent order to administratively settle the issue.

As part of the agreement, the automaker said it would spend an additional $45 million to improve internal systems for tracking safety issues.

NHTSA said recalls are critical to remedying defects and keeping drivers safe. Ford also agreed to review all recalls it had issued from the past three years to ensure they were sufficient in scope and, if necessary, to file new recalls, the regulator added.

Michael Brooks, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, said NHTSA’s enforcement activities are working and ensuring that Ford is issuing recalls in a timely fashion.

“Ford appears to be deploying a more proactive approach,” Brooks said.

Some dealers say the automaker’s handle on quality is improving, with lower warranty claims and swifter fixes.

“I’m comfortable with what Ford is doing,” said Jeff Smith, general manager of Helfman Ford in Houston. “I think they’re handling it the right way.”