- Ford issued a record number of recalls but claims quality is improving.
- US warranty costs are falling and initial quality scores are climbing.
- Software complexity was the driver behind at least 40 of the recalls.
It’s the start of a new year and that means automakers are proudly boasting about the sales records they set in 2025. We’re still waiting for Ford to tell us whether its sales teams worked at an A+ level last year, but based on the record-breaking number of recalls you might say its quality guys deserve an F. Ford, however, strongly disagrees.
Read: Ford Recalled More Cars Than The Next 9 Brands Combined In 2025
One hundred and fifty three recalls that affected nearly 13 million vehicles a in a single year is not just a record, it is almost double the previous high of 77 recalls, set by GM in 2014. And keep in mind, that number may edge up slightly, as NHTSA has only published data through December 23 at the time of publishing.
That sounds like a brand in trouble, until you hear Ford tell it, and the story flips from panic to something closer to overzealous housekeeping.
Is Transparency Driving the Recall Surge?
Ford says the recall flood is not because its cars suddenly got worse, but because the company decided to stop being shy about problems. It doubled its safety team, expanded testing, ran software audits, and started identifying and fixer faults faster. The idea is to catch defects before they turn into lawsuits, fires, or viral videos.
“I would like the consumers to know that we stand behind our products,” Kumar Galhotra, Ford’s chief operating officer, told The Detroit News. “Our initial quality has improved substantially this year, and if something does go wrong with their vehicle, I want them to know that we will act promptly to take care of it.”
Code Gremlins
Software plays a big role here. Around 40 of the recalls were actually reissued updates after Ford realised it didn’t have a robust way of confirming that previous fixes had installed correctly. So it recalled the recall.
There are some signs that this clean-up is working. Ford says warranty costs are falling, which usually only happens when cars break less.
“Our warranty costs are going down,” Galhotra said, “and that’s obviously directly related to improving initial quality of the vehicles that we’re selling, and improving the cost of repairs, and lowering the repairs for vehicles already in customers’ hands.”
Executives claim initial quality for vehicles built in 2025 is among the brand’s best ever. Consumer Reports pushed Ford up into the top half of its reliability rankings for the first time in years. J.D. Power also showed improvement, even if Ford still sits below average overall.
Busy Service Bays
That does not mean customers and retailers are thrilled. Dealers have packed service bays full of recall work, and Ford doesn’t pay as well as real customers do, one dealer told The Detroit News. And sometimes new cars can’t even be delivered because they need fixes first.
So Ford is in an awkward place. It is doing the right thing loudly, instead of quietly doing nothing. That honesty looks kind of ugly in raw numbers today, but it might be healthier long term.
