Latest Stellantis recall adds to disturbing industry trend | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

It’s been a challenging year for Ford vehicle recalls.

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 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.

But Ford isn’t the only U.S. company struggling with recalls.

Stellantis and its Chrysler brand have issued 47 so far this year, ranking second behind Ford and representing 12% of all recalls.

On Thursday, Stellantis issued yet another one.

Stellantis is recalling Ram trucks.

Photo by Brandon Bell on Getty Images

Stellantis issues its second recall in a week, this time over a software glitch

Chrysler parent Stellantis is recalling 72,509 Ram vehicles in the U.S. over a software glitch in the instrument panel display that could cause it to go blank, according to a Dec. 4 NHTSA notice.

On Dec. 1, the agency also issued a recall for a more dangerous issue with 2019 Ram trucks.

Fewer than 2,000 model year 2019-2020 Ram 2500 trucks may have been built with side curtain airbag inflators that could rupture, potentially causing shrapnel to explode into the vehicle.

Last month, the NHTSA also announced it was recalling nearly 113,000 vehicles over engine debris that could cause engine failure or a compartment fire.

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 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 says it is working on its quality-control issues

Ford’s public comment suggests the company is well aware of its quality issues.

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.”

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.

However, he also admitted that Ford had a build problem during the Covid pandemic, and many of the vehicles from that area are being recalled.

“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,” Galhotra said.