Ford Motor adds to record it is embarrassed to hold | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

Ford has had a record-setting 2025 in the absolute worst way.

The Blue Oval surpassed General Motors’ 11-year recall record when it issued its 78th recall of the year, Kelley Blue Book reported. Ford had issued 89 recalls by June.

Ford’s total U.S. sales by year:

2024: 2.08 million vehicles sold, +4.2%
2023: 1.99 million vehicles sold, +7.1%
2022: 1.77 million vehicles sold, -2.2%
2021: 1.9 million vehicles sold, -6.8%

Ford has issued nearly 140 recalls so far this year, according to the National Highway Traffic Administration, meaning the company is on track to more than double GM’s record.

While Ford isn’t the only original equipment manufacturer struggling with recalls in 2025, it is by far having the toughest time.

Ford has accounted for 35% of U.S. auto recalls this year, according to the National Highway Traffic Administration. Stellantis, in second place for number of recalls, only accounted for 12%.

On Dec. 5, Ford added to its tally.

Ford has issued nearly 140 recalls so far this year.

Photo by supersizer on Getty Images

Ford issues recall for another 109,000 Ford Escapes

On Dec. 5, the NHTSA announced a Ford recall of 108,762 vehicles due to an improperly secured liftgate hinge that could detach.

This recall covers certain 2020-2022 Escape and 2025 Escape models. Separately, Lincoln, Ford’s luxury arm, also recalled nearly 12,000 Lincoln MKT 2016-2019 vehicles due to a driver and front passenger door trim that could detach, increasing the risk of a crash.

Ford says the Escape issue occurred during the assembly process when the hinge covers were not properly secured. It said customers may notice the hinge cover is not correctly secured or may hear wind noise and rattling as they drive.

Notices telling owners of the safety risks are expected to be mailed on January 15.

Ford says it’s fixing recall and quality issues

Ford is aware of its quality-control issues, and CFO Kumar Galhotra opened his comments on the company’s third-quarter earnings call, addressing the issue.

“Improving quality is the single biggest driver to close our cost gap. Better qualitylowers warranty expense and reduces recalls,” Galhotra said.

Ford says it is already making progress and is “on track” for best-in-class performance across six of its nameplates, with three other nameplates in the top quartile, according to J.D. Power warranty analytics data.

The company also reported lower year-over-year third-quarter warranty costs, down $450 million.

In 2023, Ford spent $4.8 billion fixing customer vehicles, a 15% increase from the previous year. It set aside $1,203 for warranty repairs on each car it sold that year, according to Warranty Week.

A recent study by iSeeCars.com, analyzing 31 years of recall history, found that Ford is the least proactive car brand when it comes to issuing recalls. Fewer than 30% of the cars recalled over the last three decades resulted from a problem Ford found on its own.

To remedy this problem, in 2024, Ford initiated a new quality assurance program that incorporates “testing vehicles to failure,” running them “at extremely high mileage” to find potential problems before customers do.

At the time, CEO Jim Farley said the new approach would “reduce warranty (costs) over time.”

Q3 safety report shows recalls hit nearly two-year high

Automakers issued recalls affecting more than 8.49 million vehicles in the third quarter, a 16% sequential increase, according to BizzyCar.

The third quarter was the second consecutive quarter of elevated recall volumes and the highest total recorded since Q1 2024.

“As vehicles become increasingly software-driven and reliant on advanced electronics, recalls are shifting toward critical safety and digital components,” according to BizzyCar.

Ford continued to pad its recall lead in the month, issuing recalls that affected more than 5 million vehicles. Stellantis, Toyota, Hyundai, and BMW, the next four biggest recallers, even combined, barely reach half of the number of vehicles Ford recalled.

Ford COO Kumar Galhotra opened his comments on the company’s third-quarter earnings call, addressing the issue.

“Improving quality is the single biggest driver to close our cost gap. Better qualitylowers warranty expense and reduces recalls,” Galhotra said. “You need time to clear the car park of old issues. It all starts with a clean launch. A bad launch creates years of warranty and recall problems. Over the past two years, we have radically improved our launch quality.”