Ford quality advances after series of recalls and company aims for flawless launches
Ford Motor Company frequently positions itself as a pillar of truck manufacturing and leadership in the United States, especially with its best-selling F Series pickup trucks. However, the company has also been ahead in a less desirable area: vehicle recalls and quality issues.
These operational challenges have resulted in significant losses for the Detroit automaker, impacting customer confidence and tarnishing Ford’s image over the past decade. In 2026, the company has already issued 53 recalls for more than 12 million vehicles, following a record number of 153 recalls, covering 13 million cars and trucks, registered in 2025.
For Ford, this difficult phase is about to end, as CEO Jim Farley assured in an exclusive interview. He stated that the company has absorbed the lessons from its previous mistakes and will employ this knowledge to ensure that a series of new products are launched uneventfully in the coming years.
“Our best days are still ahead of us as we continue to execute this quality restructuring for our investors, employees and customers,” Farley said during the phone conversation. He added that “we will have all-new vehicles across our North American lineup in a few years, and we need to launch this entire new lineup seamlessly.”
Meeting this goal will represent a major challenge. The introduction of new models, especially those that incorporate emerging technologies such as software-defined systems and electric motors, is a complex process, and a single issue can trigger consequences across the entire product range.
It’s something Farley knows all too well. Such problems generated billions of dollars in losses for Ford during the almost six years he was at the helm of the company.
Recently, the automaker expanded the recall total to 2026, recalling 741,195 F-150 SUVs and pickup trucks manufactured between 2018 and 2021.
The issue has been carefully monitored by investors, who view unnecessary warranty costs as a risk to Ford’s financial projections and future business plans. Warranty expenses refer to the amounts an automaker incurs to cover repairs, replacements and other costs related to defective parts or labor during a specific period or mileage after a customer purchases a new vehicle.
Ford reported having reduced warranty and materials costs by US$1.5 billion in 2025, considering the volume and diversity of products, and aims to further reduce these expenses in 2026. This result comes after the company recorded a peak of US$4.8 billion in warranty costs in 2023.
“While warranty costs have clearly negatively impacted earnings in recent years, Ford appears to have turned the corner,” Barclays analyst Dan Levy noted in a report to investors dated May 15. He cited four consecutive quarters of year-over-year warranty benefits, adding, “We believe the warranty improvement in the first quarter is encouraging, but also that additional improvements will be needed.”
In late June, the company received important external validation for its long-term efforts to resolve issues with its products. The Ford brand was recognized as the top mass-market brand in the United States in JD Power’s initial quality rankings.
After this news broke on June 25, Ford shares saw a 2% increase, marking the second-best trading day for the company that month.
