Tesla, Stellantis surpass Ford as most recalled cars in 2024

Ford must be jumping for joy as it tops recall naughty list for third year in a row

Being rated as the third worst recalled brand in the U.S. doesn’t sound like something to be proud of. But after learning they were bumped out of the bronze medal position by Tesla and Stellantis, Ford executives are hitting their punches left, right and center this week.

Starting in 2021, Ford (and Lincoln) have had the worst recalls in the industry for the third year in a row. The company initiated more recalls last year than any other automaker, and those recalls affected more vehicles. When we crunch the numbers halfway through the year, it looks like it’s going to get the golden raspberry again.

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But in the past six months, Tesla and Stellantis (which includes the Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram and Fiat brands) have both moved into the top two. Tesla has announced only 15 recalls, with Stellantis recalling 67 and Ford recalling 62, but the electric car brand is far ahead in terms of the total number of recalled vehicles.

Including the recall announced this week involving 700,000 Model 3, Model Y and Cybertruck tire pressure monitoring systems, Tesla has recalled 5,135,697 vehicles, compared with 4,722,452 Stellantis and 4,370,701 Ford. For reference, Ford issued 54 recalls in 2023, affecting 5,692,135 vehicles, but things are going from bad to worse for the Stellantis. Although it also ranked second last year, it announced only 45 recalls in that time, recalling 2,689,297 vehicles.

However, the occupier of the fourth spot on the new table might surprise you. Honda (and Acura) didn’t even crack last year’s top ten worst-performing brands, but across 18 campaigns involving 3.8 million vehicles, it was well ahead of fifth-place General Motors (which included Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC brand). Its 33 recalls affect a relatively small 1.9 million cars, trucks and SUVs through 2024.

BMW and its sister brands ranked sixth, recalling 1.8 million vehicles. Toyota (and Lexus) ranked seventh with 1.22 million units sold, while Kia ranked eighth with 1.21 million units sold. Rounding out the top ten were Hyundai (along with Genesis) and Volkswagen (including Audi), with 1.11 million and 1.09 million units respectively.

But wait, because here comes the asterisk. All of these numbers, including each brand’s ranking in the recall rankings, are accurate as of December 20. But the year isn’t over yet, and massive recalls by the No. 2 to No. 4 automakers over the next 10 days could change everything. At the end of the year, we will revisit the list and come up with final numbers.

Recall in the U.S. from January to December 2024*