When it comes to car production, mistakes can and will happen. Ford seems to be a little too distracted for a few years now, and this distraction has resulted in the Dearborn-based automaker being crowned the king of recalls in the United States of America.
The Ford Motor Company got really close to 70 recalls in 2022, affecting over 8.6 million vehicles. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, crosstown rival General Motors clocked half the number of recalls and vehicles. 2023 is nearly over, and thus far, the Blue Oval is the most recalled automaker in the United States by far.
A whopping 43 campaigns were published through the federal watchdog so far into 2023, totaling over 4.6 million cars, utility vehicles, trucks, and commercial vehicles. How is this even possible?
Two words: build quality. It means a helluva lot of things in the automotive industry, but we all know that build quality is directly connected to quality control. That being said, take a good look at 2024 Ford Mustang chassis number 1FA6P8CF7R5403953 in the photo gallery. We're dealing with a Vapor Blue Metallic-painted GT Premium Fastback in dealer stock at Paoli Ford of Pennsylvania, a 486-horsepower coupe with a suggested retail price of $61k.
How can the peeps tasked with quality control at the Flat Rock Assembly Plant mix up the Recaro bucket seats like that on a $60k-plus automobile? The color of the Recaro logos isn't the same, and even the seating material is different.
Photo: Paoli Ford
Suppose the quality control guy or gal working the shift during which this car was assembled is colorblind. Had they touched the front seats, maybe said vehicle wouldn't have been cleared for shipping to Paoli Ford. Speaking of which, ever heard of pre-delivery inspection? Every car has to clear the PDI checklist with flying colors before delivery, and we also happen to know that Ford's pre-delivery inspection for the S650 Mustang is pretty exhaustive.
Looking at the glass half full, the dealer may have listed it for sale knowing that an error like this one may attract a certain type of customer. Truth be told, GM did produce at least one 2020 model year Stingray with a two-tone boomerang (black for the upper half, body color for the lower half) on the driver's side. The Ford Motor Company shouldn't bear the blame alone for the automotive industry's worsening build quality, but on the other hand, the numbers don't lie. With these many recalls, Ford definitely needs to step up its quality control game.
Two more things before signing off. Remember when Ford chief executive officer Jim Farley said that quality is job number one? He gave the 2023 model year Super Duty as an example of improving quality at Ford, yet the 2023 model year F-250 has been recalled a whopping seven times already.
Last but certainly not least, remember when it transpired that the 2024 model year Mustang is hampered by three quality concerns? Back in May 2023, a launch team member came clean about body panel, electrical, and V8 valve issues.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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