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January 20, 2011, 11:33 am
2010 a Record Year for ‘Voluntary’ Recalls
By CHRISTOPHER JENSEN
The auto industry recalled about 20.3 million vehicles last year, and three of the five automakers with the most recalls were Japanese, according to figures released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Wednesday.
It was the fourth-largest number of vehicles recalled since the safety agency began keeping track in 1966. The nadir was 2004, when 30.8 million vehicles were recalled. In contrast, about 16.6 million vehicles were recalled in 2009.
About 5.4 million of the 20.3 million vehicles were recalled as the result of defect investigations initiated by the agency. That is the lowest number since 2001. The other 14.9 million vehicles were listed by the agency as being part of “voluntary” recalls.
However, according to Allan Kam, a former senior enforcement lawyer for the agency, once automakers know of a safety problem, the law requires a recall.
Karen Aldana, a spokeswoman for the agency, wrote in an e-mail that voluntary was a term applied when the action was “not influenced by a N.H.T.S.A. investigation.” Rather, the automaker learns of a problem and later informs the agency of its intent to recall vehicles.
The 14.9 million vehicles listed in 2010 as being part of the so-called voluntary recalls was up from about 8.5 million vehicles in 2009, establishing a record. “More and more recalls are being initiated by automakers, and we think this shows that manufacturers are taking their responsibility for safety seriously,” Ms. Aldana said.
Troubled by issues including unintended acceleration, Toyota led with 17 individual recalls in 2010, which affected 6.7 million vehicles. General Motors was next, with 21 recalls affecting four million vehicles. Honda was third, with 15 recalls affecting almost 2.4 million vehicles. Fourth was Nissan, with 16 recalls affecting almost 2.1 million vehicles. The Chrysler Group was fifth, with 17 recalls affecting 1.6 million vehicles.
“This is the first time three Japanese companies made the top five companies in recalled vehicles,” wrote Clarence Ditlow, the executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, in an e-mail. “Honda, Nissan and Toyota need to remember that safety and quality is what got them to the top.”
With nine recalls affecting 581,107 vehicles, Ford Motor was sixth. About 492,000 of these were from rusting rear axles on Ford Windstar minivans from the 1998 to 2003 model years.
“We are pleased with our industry-leading quality, which in part reflects our efforts to address recalls in a quick and transparent manner,” Wesley Sherwood, a Ford spokesman, wrote in an e-mail.
However, Ford resisted the Windstar recall, with a spokesman originally insisting there was no safety problem. The automaker eventually recalled the vehicles after the agency conducted tests showing that drivers could lose control when the rear axle broke.
Here are the top automakers, number of recalls and vehicles affected from 2010:
• Toyota, 17 recalls, 6.7 million vehicles.
• General Motors, 21 recalls, 4 million vehicles.
• Honda, 15 recalls, 2.4 million vehicles.
• Nissan, 16 recalls, 2.1 million vehicles.
• Chrysler Group, 17 recalls, 1.6 million vehicles.
• Ford Motor, 9 recalls, 581,107 vehicles.
• Volkswagen, 2 recalls, 393,188 vehicles.
• BMW, 15 recalls, 288,503 vehicles.
• Mazda, 3 recalls, 243,500 vehicles.
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