Makes two years in a row! Both on "Farley's Watch." From Ford Authority. Only impacts 8 million Ford vehicles. And he still has the top job.
Those that have been paying attention over the past year or more are already aware that Ford has issued its fair share of recalls over that time span, a number that continues to grow as the calendar continues to turn. Among that group, some of the more notable issues relate to the Ford Escape over a fire risk and a shift cable detachment issue, the Lincoln Navigator and Ford Expedition, which face blower motor failure problems, Ford F-150 wiper motor failures, the Ford Bronco Sport over a fuel injector issue, and the Ford Transit Connect and Fusion, both of which were plagued by a problematic shifter cable bushing. Thus, it should come as no surprise that the U.S. Department of Transportation is highlighting Ford as the most recalled manufacturer for 2022 – an “honor” that it also earned in 2021.
Ford took the crown for the most recalled manufacturer in 2022 by issuing a grand total of 67 of them – or 17 percent of the total automotive industry – affecting 8,636,265 vehicles, giving it a healthy lead over Volkswagen, which issued 45 recalls. The rest of the list is composed of Daimler Trucks (42 recalls), Chrysler (38), Forest River (35), Mercedes-Benz (33), General Motors (32), Kia (24), Hyundai (22), Navistar (22), Tesla (20), and BMW (19).
Ford is well aware of this problem and hired quality turnaround specialist and former J.D. Power Vice President Josh Halliburton as its new executive director of quality back in April to help get it back on track. Halliburton did acknowlege that fixing these problems takes time, and noted that Ford’s quality issues should begin to subside in 2023, while the automaker has recently placed a renewed focus on that particular area as well. Regardless, CEO Jim Farley took a more pessimistic view toward that timeline earlier this month, claiming that it could take several years to correct the company’s quality woes.