Q3 Auto Recalls Spike Doesn’t Tell Full Story
Callbacks have hit a multiyear low by event and volume.
Backup crash-prevention systems led to the recall of more units than any other category, both in the third quarter and year to date.
Pexels/Erik McIean
The volume of recalled vehicles jumped 25% in the third quarter, despite the number of recall events declining.
Sedgwick data shows about 9.2 million units called back over the period, including one involving more than a million vehicles.
Year to date, though, recalls are down to a five-year low by recall event count and a 13-year low by unit volume, the data provider said. Third-quarter recalls totaled 676, affecting 20.3 million units.
Electrical systems led all recall event causes for the fourth consecutive quarter as they caused 40, Sedgwick said. The category was followed by structural issues, which were behind 24 events, and equipment issues at 23.
By volume, though, backup crash-prevention systems led to the recall of more units than any other category, both in the quarter and year to date, according to the data. In fact, the component’s unit volume effect in the second and third quarters was the highest in a decade, Sedgwick said. In the third quarter the systems were behind the recall of about 2.1 million vehicles, including about 1½ million units of Toyota, Lexus and Subaru models this month.
Electrical systems came second by volume in the quarter at 1.6 million units, almost tied with gasoline systems.
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