Ford Motor’s Record Recall Tally Keeps Growing. The Stock Is Down.

Ford has recalled more than 9 million vehicles this year. (Emily Elconin/Bloomberg)

Ford Motor is recalling more vehicles, extending a record the company certainly doesn’t want to hold.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, recently posted a notice affecting almost 1.5 million 2015 to 2019 model year vehicles. A rearview camera can display a distorted, inverted, or blank image. Dealers will inspect and replace cameras as needed.

This latest issue brings Ford’s total recalls this year to about 9.3 million vehicles in the U.S., accounting for more than 60% all recalls by major auto makers. The 9.3 million figure is a record for any auto maker in a year, according to Barron’s analysis of NHTSA’s recall database.

Recalls are part of the process of keeping vehicles on the roads safe, and typically don’t drag down automotive stocks. Recent quality issues at Ford, however, have become investor-level events.

A July fuel injector recall cost the company almost $600 million, and there have been several more since then, including a recall of about 100,000 vehicles in August to fix a potential air bag problem.

Continued quality issues could mean higher expenses for Ford, as seen last year. In July 2024, shares dipped 18% after the company missed Wall Street’s second-quarter earnings expectations, partly because warranty expenses were up $800 million compared with the first quarter.

Ford has said the increased frequency of recalls reflects an increased focus on identifying problems and protecting consumers. Hopefully, that focus results in fewer recalls down the road.

Ford stock fell 1.7% on Tuesday, closing at $11.49, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3% and 0.4%, respectively.

Coming into Tuesday trading, Ford stock was up about 18% year to date and up 10% over the past 12 months as investors have started to look past the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, which will cost Ford an estimated $2 billion in 2025.

It has been a volatile year for Ford stock. Shares traded as low as $8.44 in April, shortly after Trump’s broad “reciprocal” tariff announcements, and as high as $11.99 in August. Most of the stock volatility has been tariff-induced.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com