Stellantis, the parent company of Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, and Ram, issued more recalls than any other automaker in 2024 — 72. Tesla issued just 16 total recalls, but they affected more cars than any other manufacturer’s defects in 2024.
Both numbers are great news for Ford, which led the auto industry in recalls in both 2022 and 2023.
What Is a Recall?
Today’s cars are complex, containing thousands of moving parts, millions of lines of code, and often more than 100 microchips each. Many Americans use their cars almost daily, often for years — enough wear and tear to expose any design flaw.
Anything that complex, used that heavily, will develop problems. Federal law requires automakers to fix them for free if they pose a safety risk.
The law requires automakers to issue recalls for safety issues, not quality concerns. Bubbling paint won’t trigger a recall, but a missing bolt or warning will. Federal law requires manufacturers to issue safety recalls for 15 years after a car is first sold, but many will repair even older cars for free.
In particularly threatening cases, automakers may even ask drivers to stop using their cars and order dealers to stop selling them until they’re fixed.
One Problem Can Affect Many Cars
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Stellantis issued 72 recalls in 2024, affecting 4,804,287 cars.
Tesla issued just 16. But those 16 affected 5,137,968 cars — more than any other manufacturer.
The disparity comes because Tesla builds so few models (just five) with so many common parts and lines of code. One Tesla recall alone affected 2,193,869 vehicles. It involved, of all things, font size. The company recalled over 2 million cars because they displayed safety warnings in a size safety officials considered too small for many to read.
Ford’s Quality Push Showing Results
Ford didn’t exit 2024 with a clean bill of health regarding recalls. The company came in second for total number, at 67. Its recalls affected 4,777,161 vehicles.
But those figures got Ford out of first place in the ignominious race. The automaker launched a significant quality control effort to clean up its numbers in mid-2024. Ford held new models at factories for weeks of additional quality testing before releasing them to dealers.
The move was effective enough to get it out of the doghouse and slide Tesla and Stellantis inside.