Recall trends by year

Yes. US vehicle safety recalls have more than tripled: manufacturers filed an average of 241 a year over 1966–1995 and 748 a year over 1996–2025. The busiest year on record is 2021, with 1,094 campaigns.

Years on record
61
Busiest year
2021
Campaigns that year
1,094
Earliest filing
1966

Campaigns filed a year

Recall campaigns filed each year, 2025 back to 2001. The peak is 2021 at 1,094.
  1. 202531,310,684 vehicles995 campaigns
  2. 202435,020,506 vehicles1,073 campaigns
  3. 202339,757,940 vehicles1,000 campaigns
  4. 202232,270,783 vehicles1,051 campaigns
  5. 202135,259,175 vehicles1,094 campaigns
  6. 202055,645,227 vehicles881 campaigns
  7. 201953,062,646 vehicles963 campaigns
  8. 201838,850,923 vehicles1,033 campaigns
  9. 201742,654,416 vehicles897 campaigns
  10. 201676,071,445 vehicles1,031 campaigns
  11. 201586,307,332 vehicles971 campaigns
  12. 201459,795,810 vehicles868 campaigns
  13. 201326,289,462 vehicles710 campaigns
  14. 201218,281,264 vehicles661 campaigns
  15. 201115,556,343 vehicles655 campaigns
  16. 201022,645,254 vehicles722 campaigns
  17. 200917,576,820 vehicles570 campaigns
  18. 200822,200,445 vehicles780 campaigns
  19. 200720,616,143 vehicles713 campaigns
  20. 200614,056,632 vehicles613 campaigns
  21. 200520,398,646 vehicles645 campaigns
  22. 200433,011,870 vehicles699 campaigns
  23. 200322,777,965 vehicles600 campaigns
  24. 200226,147,899 vehicles514 campaigns
  25. 200140,785,551 vehicles561 campaigns

Every year on record

YearCampaignsVehicles affectedDo not drivePark outside
2026 (part year)65633,190,2021519
202599531,310,6841918
20241,07335,020,5062310
20231,00039,757,9401722
20221,05132,270,7831814
20211,09435,259,1751711
202088155,645,227117
201996353,062,646121
20181,03338,850,923201
201789742,654,41614—
20161,03176,071,44517—
201597186,307,332141
201486859,795,8108—
201371026,289,4622—
201266118,281,2642—
201165515,556,343——
201072222,645,254——
200957017,576,820——
200878022,200,445——
200771320,616,143——
200661314,056,632——
200564520,398,646——
200469933,011,870——
200360022,777,965——
200251426,147,899——
200156140,785,551——
200062546,572,956——
199944458,374,139——
199841319,949,135——
199731718,077,561——
199634121,453,044——
199535524,179,941——
19942889,772,543——
199326411,934,921——
199221712,635,154——
199128114,400,184——
199027018,535,683——
198928111,427,325——
198824112,022,524——
198725210,221,660——
19862194,383,134——
198522710,688,249——
19842097,552,553——
19831827,173,745——
19821742,924,012——
198119731,000,131——
198022012,675,797——
197933910,228,200——
197833324,546,804——
197730911,544,627——
19762624,275,566——
19752632,297,175——
19742924,601,843——
19732778,363,732——
197233212,277,046——
19712539,650,686——
19701621,340,258——
19691877,974,566——
19681371,507,881——
19671433,745,009——
196658982,823——

About this figure

Years are taken from the date the recall was filed with NHTSA, not the model year of the vehicles involved. A 2026 filing routinely covers vehicles built years earlier.

2026 is a part year and is excluded from the averages above, though it appears in the table. Do Not Drive and Park Outside flags only entered the public record in 2025, so the last two columns are blank for earlier years rather than zero.

A count of campaigns is not a count of vehicles. One filing can cover a single production batch or tens of millions of units, so the two columns move independently.

Compiled from NHTSA’s published recall files, which are US government open data and rebuilt daily. Figures on this page reflect the record as of 18 September 2026. Read the methodology, or check a specific vehicle at nhtsa.gov.