As a Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) investor, I’ve found it difficult to swallow the pill of its recalls. It’s unfortunate that the derogatory backronym for Ford — Found on Roadside Dead — rings a little too true lately.
Not only have recalls and rising warranty costs dinged the automaker’s bottom line over the past couple of years, but Ford’s sheer recall numbers alone are also staggering when compared to the rest of the industry’s.
Here’s a look at just how big a deal it’s become (Ford has recalled over 7 million vehicles in 2025) and a silver lining in its most recent recall.
Ford is recalling more than 355,000 trucks in the U.S. over a problem with the instrument display panel, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The recall affects the Ford 2025-2026 models of the F-550 SD, F-450 SD, F-350 SD, F-250 SD and the 2025 F-150.
First, some of the bad news and staggering figures: So far this year, Ford has issued more recalls than any other automaker in the U.S., generating 39% of this year’s recalls, according to the NHTSA. Just as staggering is the fact that the runner-up is RV manufacturer Forest River, with only 9% of this year’s recalls.
Ford has issued 105 recalls so far in 2025, with electrical system problems accounting for 23 of the total, while backover-prevention rearview cameras and power train recalls accounted for 14 and 13, respectively. In terms of number of vehicles recalled, Ford’s figure has now topped over 7 million, which is the record for any full year, according to Barron’s.
If those numbers didn’t make enough of an impression, let’s look at Ford’s warranty payments as a percentage of revenue over time.
You can see that in the early 2000s, Ford’s payments-to-revenue percentage was much lower, before spiking to 4% during last year’s second quarter, a high percentage for an automaker. For a quick comparison, consider that rival General Motors‘ warranty payments as a percentage of revenue checked in at 2.4% and 2.3% in 2024 and 2023, respectively.
“Clearly our strategic advantages are not falling to the bottom line the way they should,” CEO Jim Farley said nearly a year ago on a call with analysts. “Cost, especially warranty, has held back our earnings power. But as we bend that curve, there is significant financial upside for investors.”
