Most recalled automaker of 2024? It wasn’t Ford

• Tesla issued 16 recalls encompassing more than 5 million electric vehicles
• Stellantis had the second highest number of recalled vehicles, followed by Ford
• Ford continued to reverse the trend of leading the industry in recalls

Tesla sales may have slowed in 2024, but the number of vehicles it recalled spiked, according to the latest year-end data available from the NHTSA. Problems ranging from the incorrect font size on warning lights to detaching parts plagued the world’s second largest EV company and the maker of the world’s bestselling EV, the Tesla Model Y. 

Tesla had only 16 recalls during the calendar year, but it had the dubious distinction of unseating Ford for the highest number of vehicles recalled. Tesla recalled 5,137,968 models, widespread across its product line of five vehicles, including the polarizing Cybertruck that launched new for 2024 and had seven recalls last year. 

Recalls of new vehicles utilizing new platforms with new software or vehicle architectures aren’t unusual, especially given the technological sophistication of the latest generation of vehicles. No amount of testing can cover every real-world scenario. Additionally, recalls aren’t necessarily a bad thing as they indicate an automaker is actively addressing known problems at no cost to owners.

Usually, automakers work with the NHTSA to remedy problems. But Tesla CEO and the NHTSA have been at odds for over a decade, and Tesla’s insistence on using misnomers such as Full Self-Driving provoke the eye and ire of the federal automotive safety agency, as well as a series of investigations into its alleged automated drive systems.

Ford also ran afoul of the NHTSA, incurring a $165 million fine in November for failing to properly address an ongoing rearview camera recall that most other automakers have had to contend with. That’s the highest penalty imposed by the NHTSA since the fines imposed on airbag supplier Takata, which subsequently went bankrupt. 

Chrysler, which includes Jeep, Dodge, Ram, Fiat, and Alfa Romeo—the brands sold in the U.S. under parent company Stellantis—had the second highest number of vehicles recalled at 4,804,287 vehicles, and at 72 recalls, it issued the most recalls of any automaker. Nearly a quarter of those recalls had to do with glitchy or absent rearview camera projections. A faulty electronic stability control system was second. 

In 2024, Ford had 67 recalls totaling 4,777,123 vehicles. The largest recall involved door trim pieces detaching from older Explorers, but Ford’s hybrid vehicles continue to have a high number of problems, as do certain turbocharged engines in popular models such as the bestselling Ford F-150, Ford Bronco, Bronco Sport, Explorer, and Lincoln Aviator. The numbers of reported problems and recalls are lessening, however. In 2023 they had 54 recalls for 5.7 million vehicles, which was down more than 20% from 2022, when it issued 68 recalls encompassing more than 8.7 million vehicles, Automotive News reported last year. 

Honda issued 19 recalls totaling 3,794,280 cars. Nearly half of those vehicles recalled were for a damaged steering gearbox that could lead to a difficulty steering. But Honda continues to have issues with airbags beyond the Takata airbag debacle that roiled the industry in 2020 and 2021, accounting for 67 million defective airbags in nearly two dozen makes that killed at least 28 people and accounted for the largest, most widespread recall in automotive history. The NHTSA still estimates that some 17 million Takata airbags in older cars from the early to mid-2000s have not been fixed. 

Most other major automakers had fewer than 2 million vehicles recalled, with GM, BMW, Kia, Toyota, Hyundai, and Volkswagen ranging between 1 million and 2 million recalled vehicles. 

The NHTSA hasn’t issued its 2024 vehicle recall report, but preliminary numbers indicate its down from 2023, when automakers issued 894 recalls covering 34,862,036 models. Those numbers are down from a high in 2021 of the number of recalls, but 2014-2016 had the most number of vehicles recalled.  

Mazda and Subaru had the fewest number of recalls and recalled vehicles of any major automaker, but they’re also smaller in size and in lineup than most other automakers. 

The NHTSA releases many numbers in many different files. The most comprehensive, and the basis for this report, is on the interactive dashboard found here.