Vehicle recalls are surging across the U.S., with more than 23 million vehicles recalled so far this year, even as new-vehicle quality reaches record levels. The recall total is roughly twice what it was at this point last year and puts the industry on pace to surpass the full-year record of 31.3 million vehicles set in 2025.

Recalls Rise Despite Stronger Vehicle Quality

Barely halfway through August, Stellantis has announced a safety recall covering nearly 1 million vehicles because of faulty backup cameras. Ford, Volkswagen, Toyota, Lexus and Subaru have also announced smaller service actions over the past couple of months.

The contrast is particularly striking at Ford Motor Co. After years of struggling with design and production problems, Ford ranked as the top mainstream brand in the latest JD Power Initial Quality Study, behind luxury brands Porsche and Genesis, which led the industry.

Yet Ford has recalled about 10.3 million vehicles so far this year. That puts the automaker on track to surpass the full-year record of 13.6 million vehicles recalled by General Motors in 2014.

Why Quality and Recall Data Tell Different Stories

The apparent contradiction becomes clearer when considering what the different measurements track. The JD Power Initial Quality Study asks consumers to report problems experienced during their first 90 days of ownership.

The 2026 results, released in June, found that the industry delivered its best year-over-year improvement in quality scores since 1997. Recalls, however, can involve vehicles built years earlier.

Paul Waati, director of industry analysis for AutoPacific, Inc., described quality studies such as the IQS as “leading indicators.” Recalls, by contrast, are “a lagging indicator,” he said. “With recalls, we’re looking into the past.”

Ford illustrates the gap. Over the last decade, the company has ranked near the bottom of most quality studies. Two years ago, Ford ranked 15th among mainstream brands in the IQS.

While CEO Jim Farley called the company’s latest ranking “a proud day for everyone at Ford,” Sam Abuelsamid, principal analyst with Telemetry Research, cautioned that Ford’s past quality problems will continue to affect its recall numbers.

“Most recalls cover vehicles that were built two, three, four, even 10 years ago,” Abuelsamid said. As a result, “recent improvements in quality aren’t reflected in most recalls.”

The Stellantis backup camera problem is an exception, covering mostly new or recent models.

Shared Parts Can Expand the Reach of Recalls

Another factor behind rising recall numbers is the industry’s increasing reliance on common platforms and shared parts and components as automakers seek improved economies of scale.

When a faulty component is used across multiple products, a single defect can affect a wide range of vehicles. A total of 42 million vehicles sold in the U.S. have been recalled because of defective Takata airbags sold under 34 different brands by 19 automakers.

A flawed V-6 engine that triggered two Toyota recalls is used not only in the Tundra pickup but also in the Lexus LX and GX models.

The latest Stellantis rearview camera recall covers models including the Chrysler Pacifica and Voyager vans, the Dodge Charger, the Jeep Cherokee, Compass, Gladiator and Grand Wagoneer, as well as the Ram 1500 pickup and ProMaster vans.

Digital Defects Are Playing a Bigger Role

The Toyota and Stellantis recalls also highlight how the nature of vehicle defects is changing. Hardware problems that once plagued the industry, including the turbocharged V-6 engine failures involved in Toyota products such as the Tundra pickup, have become increasingly uncommon.

NHTSA data still shows recalls involving vehicle fires and loss of engine power, but an increasing number are being triggered by digital defects.

“The car is becoming increasingly more complex with millions of lines of code that can become a safety issue,” Waati said.

For owners, some of these high-tech problems can be addressed with relatively little disruption. Stellantis plans to update the faulty code on the affected Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram models through smartphone-style over-the-air updates to fix their cameras.

An approach first pioneered by Tesla, over-the-air fixes are now available on almost all new models coming to market.

Automakers Are Taking a More Proactive Approach

There is another reason recall numbers are increasing: Automakers may be initiating more recalls intentionally, according to Frank Hanley, Senior Director, Automotive Benchmarking at JD Power.

In previous years, automakers often tried to avoid recalls because of their cost and the potential damage to their image. General Motors went to court against NHTSA in 1984 to block a recall of its compact X-Car family over alleged brake problems.

GM won that case but faced another battle with NHTSA in 2014 involving defective ignition switches blamed for 124 deaths. The episode cost the company about $5 billion in lost profits, including a $900 million settlement fund for owners. GM also faced much tighter federal scrutiny, leading to changes across the industry.

Hanley said automakers’ “recall strategies are evolving as more manufacturers take a proactive approach, initiating recalls for known issues before customers experience them.”

“For example, if an OEM identifies a faulty fuel sensor or a required software update, the issue may be corrected during a service visit before it creates a customer problem,” Hanley said. “As a result, the customer does not experience the issue and is less likely to report it in IQS.”

He added that this proactive strategy can have a stronger positive effect on the customer experience than the reactive recall practices used in the past: “Fix it before it becomes an actual issue for the consumer.”

Recall Costs Remain Significant for Automakers

Automakers would prefer to prevent problems rather than deal with recalls. Ford, for example, disclosed that it spent about $10 billion on warranty fixes and recall-related repairs last year.

Those expenses do not include the marketing challenges that can arise when quality issues affect brand loyalty.

The latest industry quality results offer hope that the recall surge may be approaching its peak. At the same time, the growing reliance on digital technology remains one reason vehicle owners should continue to encounter recall notices for years to come.