A new DailyMail.com analysis of federal regulatory data reveals which carmakers were forced to recall the most vehicles last year in the US — and Ford topped the list.

Despite a year filled with recall reports, many of them software patches affecting millions of vehicles in both the US and China, Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors did not even enter the top 12 ‘most recalled’ auto companies for 2023. 

DailyMail.com also identified the most common reasons behind these recalls, with braking issues, electrical systems, and airbag defects all at the top of the list. 

But both Ford and Tesla have stumbled out the gate already in 2024. 

This month, Musk’s electric vehicle company issued a recall for more than 1.6 million cars in China due to autosteer problems and Ford recalled more than 100,000 vehicles due to an engine oil pressure issue.

A new DailyMail.com analysis of federal regulatory data reveals which carmakers were forced to recall the most vehicles last year in the US. Ford topped the list with 58 specific recalls, but Indiana-based Forest River, makers of motorhomes, RVs and travel trailers, also scored highly

The 2023 rankings were compiled from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recall data, to identify the number of ‘potentially affected’ cars per manufacturer across 2023. Ford recalls last year affected 6,152,738 vehicles, based on this data

The 2023 rankings were compiled from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recall data, filtered by DailyMail.com to identify the number of ‘potentially affected’ cars per manufacturer across 2023. 

Ford Motor Company saw more recalls last year than any other brand, reporting 6,152,738 affected vehicles, based on this data.

Findings across the entirety of the NHTSA’s database, which begins in the year 1966, were also collated by the personal injury attorneys at John Foy & Associates, who have advised on automotive accidents as part of their law practice.

‘Any manufacturer who has been affected by recalls will need to evaluate their production process to rule out any factors that may be decreasing the quality or durability of their vehicles,’ the firm’s founding attorney John Foy told DailyMail.com.

‘This may include,’ according to Foy, ‘conducting rigorous testing on advanced technologies like sensors, software, and electronic systems’ — a reality born out by the federal data for 2023. 

Issues with motor vehicle ‘electrical systems’ impacted nearly 7.7 million automobiles in the United States last year, making it the second largest category of recall in 2023. (Above, a Ford F150 truck)

Issues with motor vehicle ‘electrical systems’ impacted nearly 7.7 million automobiles in the United States last year, making it the second largest category of recall in 2023.

The NHTSA’s definition of an ‘electrical system’ includes not just a car’s battery and its cables, but also other core components like alternators, fuses, main body wiring and the sparking ignition of a traditional combustion engine. 

The new findings suggests that its not just Tesla Motors that has had issues with the electric components of their motor vehicles in 2023. 

Attorney John Foy believes that some of the systemic, industry-wide problems revealed by this analysis of last year’s recall data will only be truly corrected by deeper government scrutiny. 

‘Regulatory standards may also play a part for some brands,’ Foy told DailyMail.com, ‘as will transparency, as road safety is only assured when manufacturers adhere to compliance requirements and are honest about faults.’

Issues with motor vehicle ‘electrical systems’ impacted nearly 7.7 million automobiles in the United States last year, making it the second largest category of recall in 2023. The new finding suggests that its not just Tesla that has had issues with key electric components

In 2021, in one of the more innovative methods of burying information about automotive problems, Tesla founder Elon Musk was accused of trying to bump down online search results about a federal whistleblower investigation into the electric car company by selling a $50 ‘Cyberwhistle’ online.

Musk’s jokey post about the Cyberwhistle came days before a Reuters report revealed the existence of an SEC investigation launched by that whistleblower’s testimony. 

But, as Foy noted, cars can be recalled for various reasons related to safety concerns or potential defects, not all of them equal in their severity.

These issues can be more purely the product of compliance with state and federal statutes, like emissions standards or environmental laws, or can stem from more serious and concrete car faults that pose a safety risk or render the motor vehicle inoperable.

Software or technology glitches, like those millions of ‘electrical system’ failures, can fall into any of these categories.

On one end of the spectrum: Chrysler recalled 600,000 Dodge Ram trucks this month after it was discovered that the trucks had software designed to hide pollution emissions.

And on the other: A Tesla crashed into a firetruck in California this time last year, killing the driver and critically injuring a passenger while operating on the company’s autopilot software.

A look at the market share held by each of the major automakers whose faulty cars catapulted them to the top of the 2023 recall list, suggests that many of these issues can not be explained away by volume of sales.

Both General Motors (GM) and Toyota surpass Ford in total sales and market share, for example, but ranked lower on total number of recalled vehicles.

GM sold over 2.2 million automobiles in 2022, based on data obtained by GoodCarBadCar.com, earning a 13.16-percent market share compared to Ford’s 10.73 percent. 

Based on John Foy & Associates analysis, across the 100 most-impacted makers, including Tesla and Land Rover, the average number of recalled vehicles for each company since 1966 was 12,147,944 — meaning Ford’s total is 1,592 percent higher than the norm.

But those figures can be deceiving. 

‘While it’s easy to take the NHTSA findings and view the manufacturers with the most vehicles affected by recalls as inferior or lacking in some way, it’s important to consider what other factors may affect the results,’ Foy advised. 

‘It makes sense that it’s the biggest car manufacturers that make up the majority of the ten most affected brands, as they arguably monopolize a large share of the market and, therefore, will naturally be impacted by recalls more than smaller makers due to having more vehicles in production.’

‘Those who’ve operated since the 60s will have higher figures than newer automakers,’ he added.

Past those caveats, there’s at least one silver lining for Ford: According to Automotive News, the number of recalled Ford vehicles in 2023 was down 30 percent in the US compared to recalls in 2022.