According to recent data, car companies issued recalls on four times the amount of vehicles that they sold. This translated into 350 recall campaigns and 63.5 million vehicles.
2014 was a record-breaking year for auto manufacturers, but not the good kind. Last year, car companies recalled nearly 64 million cars and light-duty trucks – four times the amount of vehicles they sold. Last year’s numbers surpassed recalls from 1981, the previous leading year for auto recalls at 30 million. To put it another way, last year’s auto recalls more than doubled the auto recall record.
The prime suspects were ignition switch and airbag defects. After the government made an example out of General Motors, more auto giants started “discovering” similar defects, perhaps for fear that they would be next in line after GM’s very public scrutiny.
Experts in the industry posit that auto recalls will persist at a high rate due to proposed legislation that could make fines even heavier for auto manufacturers that fail to issue recalls in a timely fashion.
Popular Mechanics broke down the top 15 auto defects that warranted recalls in 2014 –
- Airbags – 20.8 million
- Ignition switches – 16.2 million
- Electrical defects – 4.9 million
- Brakes – 4.7 million
- Powertrains – 3.8 million
- Steering – 2.5 million
- Fuel systems and leaks – 2.1 million
- Body structure – 1.7 million
- Suspension – 1.6 million
- Seatbelts – 1.6 million
- Seats – 1.2 million
- Engine and cooling – 1.1 million
- Tires, wheels, tire pressure, and tire monitoring – 617,223
- Accessories and labels – 153,737
- Throttle – 19,202
General Motors was responsible for a bulk of these with more than 26 million vehicle recalls. Chrysler and Honda came in second and third with more than 9 million auto recalls each, followed by Toyota and Ford.
Wyatt Law Firm in San Antonio handles both car accident and product liability claims, and anyone who retains Wyatt Law Firm does not pay us unless we secure a recovery. If you were involved in an accident or incident involving a defective vehicle or car part, we invite you to contact our law firm today for a free review of your case.