Which car-makers issue the most recalls?

A premium European manufacturer long held in high regard for its engineering excellence is Australia’s most-recalled vehicle brand.

According to the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC), Mercedes-Benz Cars Australia has issued over three times more product safety recalls than any other vehicle brand in 2020.

Of the 32 recalls notices it posted to November 2020, most recalls were for Mercedes-Benz models (including vans) less than two years old.

The next-highest recall tally for a vehicle manufacturer so far this year is nine, from both Audi and Volvo.

Over a five-year period (November 2015 to November 2020), Mercedes-Benz again clocked a far higher number of safety recalls than any other manufacturer, with 130 recall notices issued.

The second-highest five-year safety recall tally belongs to Audi and Volkswagen, with 37 recalls each.

Mercedes-Benz Cars Australia has defended its high number of vehicle recalls in recent times, attributing the increase to its expanded model range, tighter safety regulations and duplication of related safety recalls – see its full statement below.

The full list of vehicle safety recalls is also tabulated below. It was collated from the ACCC’s Product Safety Australia website but excludes recalls relating to Takata airbags, due to the unprecedented nature and unique circumstances of the wide-ranging Takata recall, which has affected more than three million cars from eight brands in Australia.

For example, while Honda has issued just five non-Takata-related safety recalls in the past five years, it has announced a further 18 recalls involving of defective Takata airbags.

While some manufacturers have issued only a relatively small number of safety recalls, others have struck numerous safety issues with a particular model. For example, Jeep ’s WK Grand Cherokee accounts for 10 of the brand’s 32 recalls in the last five years (and has been subjected to 20 recalls overall).

Some of the safety recalls appear quite benign. Renault has just recalled the Megane to blank out misleading wording in the owner’s manual. Volvo recalled some MY17 XC90s because they didn’t have an airbag warning sticker on the passenger’s sun visor. Mercedes-Benz recalled the MY18 C-Class because its headlights may be out of adjustment (potentially dazzling oncoming drivers).

There are many other more serious safety recalls for problems ranging from faulty welding that could cause a seat frame to break, engine oil leaks that may cause a fire and even airbag problems (not related to Takata recalls) such as those that won’t deploy in a crash.

Note that product safety recalls do not include any voluntary ‘service campaigns’, in which a vehicle manufacturer acknowledges a manufacturing or other fault in its vehicles not related to safety, and then repairs it free of charge. Car-makers hold such repair numbers close to their chest; unlike safety recalls, there is no requirement to make field campaigns public.

A product safety recall is initiated by a vehicle manufacturer or supplier when vehicles are identified as presenting a safety risk to consumers.

Often recalls are initiated by the vehicle manufacturers themselves, when they become aware of safety issues in their products. Product recalls may also be negotiated by the ACCC or other regulators when suppliers are identified as having sold consumer products that are unsafe.

The ACCC may recommend that the responsible minister initiate a compulsory recall in order to protect the public from an unsafe product and then enforce compliance, as it has with defective Takata airbags.

In response to carsales flagging of the number of recalls, Mercedes-Benz Cars Australia stated:

“The safety of our customers has always been our top priority, and this guides our decision-making when it comes to all topics that are potentially relevant for safety purposes,” Mercedes-Benz stated.

“We often take preventive actions based on the latest findings of our research and development. We also leverage real-life observations of in-service vehicles to offer our customers (and of course third parties) the highest possible degree of safety.

“The volume of recalls reflects the expansion of our product portfolio to a wide range of variants, but can also be attributed to a significantly changed regulatory environment with drastically increased requirements, particularly in the US and Asia [China, Korea, Japan].

“Although the number of recalls has increased, the percentage of vehicles recalled in relation to all of the vehicles on the road is low. In any case, the benchmark for our quality management is always the same, regardless of whether a recall only affects a few vehicles or a larger number of them.”

Further, Mercedes-Benz also commented specifically on a number of recalls, stating:

“From the 148, approximately 28 relate to vans and 120 to cars

“From the 120 for cars, 81 campaigns include less than 500 VINs

“From the 120 for cars, 95 campaigns include less than 1000 VINs

“Additionally, there are a number of duplicate campaigns that are related, but have been submitted separately. This can create multiple recall campaign codes.”

Most recalls (YTD Nov 2020/Nov 2015-Nov 2020):
Alfa Romeo 0/6
Aston Martin 0/7
ASV (RAM) 2/9
Audi 9/37
Bentley 2/6
BMW 4/14
Chrysler 1/7
Citroen 1/15
Ferrari 0/3
Fiat 0/13
Ford 4/23
Holden 1/18
Honda 2/5
Hyundai 3/21
Isuzu 1/3
Jaguar 0/14
Jeep 2/32
Kia 5/19
Lamborghini 0/4
Land Rover 0/18
Lexus 0/10
Mahindra 0/1
Maserati 0/10
Mazda 3/30
McLaren 1/2
Mercedes Benz 32/130
Mitsubishi 1/31
Nissan 0/12
Peugeot 3/23
Porsche 3/18
Renault 7/14
Rolls-Royce 0/1
Skoda 1/5
SsangYong 2/4
Subaru 1/21
Suzuki 0/12
Tesla 0/5
Toyota 6/30
Volkswagen 5/37
Volvo 9/23