Ford CEO Jim Farley targets major problem with its cars

Ford set an ignominious record when it issued its 78th recall earlier this year, surpassing General Motors' 2014 record. But the company wasn't finished.

By July, it had issued its 89th recall of 2025. It has over 100 recalls issued with more than two months left in the year.

Ford total U.S. sales by year:

• 2024: 2.08 million vehicles sold, +4.2%
• 2023: 1.99 million vehicles sold, +7.1%
• 2022: 1.77 million vehicles sold, -2.2%
• 2021: 1.9 million vehicles sold, -6.8%

Earlier this year, Ford said a nearly 700,000 vehicle recall would cost it about $570 million. On Sept. 9, Ford announced that it is recalling 1.9 million vehicles worldwide due to faulty rearview cameras. 

Those recalls add to the company's overall warranty costs, which will cost it billions this year.

According to CEO Jim Farley, improving the quality of its vehicles is Ford's "largest near-term opportunity" to lower costs.

Ford says it is on its way to solving recall issues

In the past, Ford has said that its recall issues are tied to older models built before 2021.

In 2023, Ford said it spent $4.8 billion fixing customer vehicles. In 2024, the company said it was initiating a new quality assurance program that incorporates "testing vehicles to failure," running them "at extremely high mileage" in order to find potential problems before customers do.

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The company said at the time that it would take up to 18 months to see the benefits of that new process. “It makes our quarters lumpy and it’s challenging, but it will reduce warranty (costs) over time,” Farley said at the time.

During this year's call, Chief Operating Officer Kumar Galhorta identified four areas the company is focusing on now.

• seamless launch execution
• minimal defects
• greater reliability
• time

The company did report lower warranty costs year over year in the third quarter, down $450 million, despite the record-setting pace this year.

Owning a Ford is more costly than owning other brands

Ford says that about a third of its recalls over the past three years have been software-related, and over-the-air recalls cost 95% less than physical ones. 

Costs associated with recalls and customer satisfaction claims, what Ford calls field service actions (FSA), account for about 40% of Ford’s warranty costs.

While Ford owners don't have to shoulder the financial burden of these recalls or warranty issues, owning a Ford still comes with extra costs that other car owners don't have to deal with.

According to Repair Pal, Ford’s annual average repair cost was $775, giving it an above-average ownership cost. Ford’s average was 0.3 visits to a repair shop per year, and there was a 15% probability that a repair would be severe. 

Owners of other car brands averaged just $652 in annual repair costs.

Related: Ford faces crisis after yet another misstep