Ford Just Broke The Annual Safety Recall Record And It's Only July

Around nan World Photos/Shutterstock

Good morning! It's Friday, July 11, 2025, and this is The Morning Shift, your regular roundup of nan apical automotive headlines from astir nan world, successful 1 place. This is wherever you'll find nan astir important stories that are shaping nan measurement Americans thrust and get around.

In this morning's edition, Ford's struggles pinch recalls are only getting worse,  California officials opportunity Tesla hasn't really applied for permits to bring robotaxis to nan state, Nissan mightiness commencement building Honda trucks astatine its plant, and Polestar's rearview camera hole for thousands of vehicles whitethorn not person worked.

Tada Images/Shutterstock

If it feels for illustration location has been an inordinate number of Ford recalls lately, you're not imagining things. The Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker has recorded much information recalls successful nan first six months of 2025 than immoderate different car institution has successful an full almanac year. Truly, Ford is successful a people of its ain erstwhile it comes to needing to hole its aged mistakes.

Through nan extremity of June, Ford issued 88 freaking information recalls. It's beautiful overmuch lapped nan section 4 aliases 5 times complete erstwhile you see nan adjacent closest shaper — a recreational-vehicle institution called Forest River — has only issued 21 recalls. This is conscionable nan latest successful a worrying shape for nan Blue Oval, which has been either first aliases 2nd successful yearly recalls since 2020. In fact, just yesterday we told you astir a callback that impacted complete 850,000 vehicles. From The Wall Street Journal:

Ford said 9 of its recalls this twelvemonth are description s of earlier recalls. In March, nan automaker said it was conducting an audit of past recalls that included package fixes arsenic portion of nan remedy. So far, 33 recalls—about 37% of nan full truthful acold this year—have been issued arsenic a consequence of nan continuing audit, Ford said.

[...]

Ford said it has importantly improved merchandise value successful caller years, pinch 4 caller models winning accolades from a caller J.D. Power study connected quality. The institution has much than doubled its squad of information and method experts and expanded testing connected captious systems, specified arsenic conveyance powertrains, steering and braking.

"The summation successful recalls reflects our intensive strategy to quickly find and hole immoderate hardware and package issues and spell nan other mile to protect customers," said Kumar Galhotra, Ford's main operating officer.

As you mightiness expect, nan institution really wants this waking nightmare of first value issues to beryllium over.

Ford's anticipation is that, complete time, callback campaigns and nan full number of recalled vehicles will driblet arsenic a consequence of these soul changes, institution officials said.

"We judge this attack will lead to systemic and lasting affirmative alteration and thief america scope world-class levels for quality, information and customer satisfaction," Galhotra said.

[...]

Ford and its main executive, Jim Farley, person staked retired improving value arsenic a privilege for nan Dearborn, Mich., automaker. Improving value will besides thief to trim nan billions of dollars Ford spends each twelvemonth connected warranty claims and information recalls. The institution hired a value czar successful 2022, and it has tied 70% of executive yearly bonuses straight and indirectly to quality.

To beryllium adjacent to Ford, recalls crossed nan manufacture person been rising, pinch much than 1,000 recorded successful 2024, up from nan astir 800 recalls a decade earlier, according to nan WSJ. Many of these recalls are related to mini issues for illustration faulty interior lights and wonky sun visors, but, of course, galore person overmuch much superior consequences.

Tesla

Yesterday, we told you astir Tesla CEO Elon Musk's plans to grow his fleet of robotaxis to San Francisco, and his declare it would hap successful a "month aliases two" depending connected regulatory approval. However, now we're learning location is 1 large rumor pinch this plan: Tesla hasn't applied for permits to run robotaxis successful nan state. Shocking, I know.

Regulators made nan announcement pursuing Musk's comments, saying, "To date, Tesla has not applied for either a driverless testing aliases deployment permit." The institution did nonstop a first information of licence requests to nan California Public Utilities Commission backmost successful March, but it said Tesla has not yet applied for immoderate caller permits. You cannot make this worldly up, man. From Reuters:

 All it has truthful acold is simply a proscription charter-party bearer licence (TCP) typically associated pinch chauffeur-operated services, which allows Tesla to ain and power a fleet of vehicles and carrier labor connected pre-arranged trips.

The successful description of robotaxis will beryllium important to Tesla's early arsenic income of its aging lineup of electrical vehicles person slumped pinch rising title and a backlash against Musk's clasp of far-right governmental views.

[...]

Tesla reached retired to Arizona precocious past period to commencement a certification process for an autonomous conveyance ride-sharing service, and a determination is expected by nan extremity of this month, nan state's proscription section said connected Thursday.

"They person expressed liking successful operating wrong nan Phoenix Metro area," Arizona's Department of Transportation said successful an email to Reuters. Tesla has applied to trial and run some pinch and without a driver, it said.

Right now, Tesla has conscionable a mini number of robotaxis terrorizing nan streets of Austin, Texas. Obviously, Musk has his sights group overmuch higher than this, but he's going to request nan due permits if he wants to move his tube dream into a reality.

Different_brian/Getty Images

Earlier this year, merger talks betwixt Nissan and Honda collapsed successful spectacular fashion, but that doesn't mean the short-time lovers can't still thief each different out. Nissan is apparently successful talks to proviso cars to Honda successful nan U.S. done 1 of its severely underutilized American plants.

Nissan is reportedly considering building the Honda Ridgeline pickup motortruck astatine its installation successful Canton, Mississippi. Currently, that works only builds nan Frontier midsize pickup truck. From Reuters:

After Nissan's talks to merge pinch Honda to shape nan world's third-largest automaker fell isolated this year, nan 2 said they would support up an statement to activity together successful areas specified arsenic electrical vehicles.

In a connection connected Friday, Nissan said it had nary further updates, though it continued to activity connected projects pinch Honda. It said it would not remark connected speculation.

Right now, Nissan tin usage each nan thief it tin get arsenic it struggles mightily successful conscionable astir each facet of nan business.

Nissan reported a nett nonaccomplishment of $4.5 cardinal successful nan financial twelvemonth that ended successful March, and has been severely deed by dwindling income arsenic it grapples pinch an ageing conveyance lineup.

It faces indebtedness of astir 700 cardinal yen ($4.8 billion) coming owed this twelvemonth and its indebtedness ratings person been trim to junk by each 3 awesome in installments ratings firms.

New CEO Ivan Espinosa has unveiled a sweeping cost-cutting scheme that includes closing 7 factories worldwide and a trim of 15% successful nan world workforce.

I deliberation this is simply a really bully move for some automakers arsenic agelong arsenic Honda's value standards are kept up astatine nan plant.

Sjoerd Van Der Wal/Getty Images

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it has opened a callback enquiry into 27,816 Polestar 2 liftback EVs because nan rearview camera whitethorn not run correctly. I'll show you from firsthand acquisition that nan rear creation of nan Polestar necessitates nan rear camera.

In June of past year, Polestar recalled definite 2021-2024 2s because of rear-view camera issues that ranged from constricted visualization to incorrect functioning erstwhile successful reverse and becoming inoperable altogether. That callback didn't look to do nan job. From Reuters:

Polestar had projected to remedy this information via a package update, minimizing a graphical rendering limitation by shortening nan retry times of nan camera streams, arsenic good arsenic removing nan rendering of nan representation successful nan driver show during reversing.

However, nan NHTSA has received 109 complaints for earlier rear-view camera failures persisting moreover aft nan callback remedy was completed.

Earlier this month, nan Office of Defects Investigations discussed nan complaints pinch Polestar. The Swedish-Chinese automaker – that is launching a caller exemplary pinch nary rear model astatine all — confirmed that its package update didn't really hole nan original issue. Now, ODI has opened a callback query into nan rumor to measure if Polestar's remedy was adequate. I'm going to spell retired connected a limb and opportunity it wasn't.

OK, technically this isn't a humanities event, but you tin conscionable Google that worldly connected your ain clip today. It's 7/11, which intends it's Free Slurpee Day astatine 7-Eleven. You merit to dainty yourself to this sugary, icy goodness.

Justin Bieber is back, folks. If you don't excavation him, that's connected you. Nobody is excessively cool for nan Biebs.