Recalls are commonplace in the automotive industry today. On the Rapex site, which lists these return to workshop operations, there will be no less than 300 campaigns of this type in 2024 for private or light utility vehicles. The list of brands includes such elite labels as Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren and even Koenigsegg, which had to take emergency measures after a copy of its Jesko hypercar caught fire. But we mainly find more “mainstream” manufacturers, who have sometimes resorted to this type of operation on numerous occasions during the year. The prize goes to Mercedes, a regular in this first position. L’Etoile has organized 25 recalls over the past 12 months. This is two more than its eternal rival BMW, which finished on the second step of the podium, while Citroën finished third with 18 campaigns, including the highly publicized affair of the Takata airbags on the C3 and DS3. Ford is alone in fourth place with 16 interventions, followed by Opel, Renault and Volkswagen who all called some of their owners to the garage 15 times.
The top 10 manufacturers who have organized the most recalls in 2024 (with light commercial vehicles)
- 1. Mercedes: 25 recalls
- 2. BMW: 23 recalls
- 3. Citroën: 18 reminders
- 4. Ford: 16 recalls
- 5. Opel, Renault and Volkswagen: 15 reps
- 8. Toyota: 14 recalls
- 9. Peugeot: 13 recalls
- 10. Hyundai: 12 recalls
A very different classification without the utilities
In this ranking, you may have noticed that most of the manufacturers in the top 10 also offer light utility vehicles. If we remove this type of vehicle, losing in the process some of their “family” derivatives that Rapex cannot always distinguish, the list takes a very different turn. There are only 230 recalls left, and BMW has organized no less than 10% of them! The Bavarian brand is narrowly ahead of its long-time competitor, Mercedes, and its 21 campaigns. Volkswagen finished a good distance away and completed a 100% German podium. The rest is more varied in terms of nationalities, with Hyundai ahead of a quartet made up of Audi, Kia, Citroën and Toyota, all tied for fifth place. But neither Renault nor Peugeot appear in the top 10 this time, which confirms that their utility range was particularly affected by workshop returns this year.
The top 10 manufacturers who have organized the most recalls in 2024 (excluding light commercial vehicles)
- BMW: 23 recalls
- Mercedes: 21 recalls
- Volkswagen: 12 reminders
- Hyundai: 11 recalls
- Audi, Citroën, Kia and Toyota: 10 recalls
- Porsche: 9 rappels
- DS, Jeep, Lexus, Opel and Renault: 8 recalls
An unreliable indicator for reliability
Please note, the brands that have organized the most recalls are not necessarily less reliable than the others. Sometimes it’s even the opposite. On Rapex, we only find interventions reported to the authorities. They most often aim to correct problems which could endanger the occupants of the vehicle or other road users: defective airbags, short circuit liable to degenerate into a fire, poorly secured bodywork element, etc. In this type of case, manufacturers are forced to go through this. It also happens more rarely that a possible excessive discharge of pollutants forces a brand to take “establishment” measures. This happened for Ford due to possible overheating of certain particle filters. On the other hand, for the moment, the European Union does not require companies to act in the event of a recurring mechanical defect. It thus appears to be more “lax” than its American equivalent, the powerful transport agency NHTSA.
For example, an engine failure is not necessarily considered a safety problem, even if it can be difficult to understand for those who have experienced this mishap on a highway! The problems of the 1.2 TCe Renault have never been the subject of a real official recall on the old continent, just like those of the 1.5 BlueHDi from the Stellantis group. Same story for many other mechanics with a higher than average failure rate, such as the BMW N47/N57 or certain Volkswagen TSIs. In this type of case, brands generally prefer to act in a less publicized manner, by favoring targeted interventions during workshop visits or only for customers who complain. The 1.2 Puretech is one of the rare exceptions since it was the subject of two large-scale campaigns, but they were primarily aimed at avoiding a possible loss of braking assistance caused by falling pieces of its timing belt in a pump.
Reminders more important than others
The other important element missing from our ranking is the number of vehicles recalled. Unfortunately, here we are dependent on the shortcomings of the Rapex site and its French equivalent Rappel-Conso, which uses the same data in a degraded manner. For now, to obtain this information, we are obliged to contact the manufacturers… who may be more or less inclined to respond on this subject, which is often considered sensitive. We were also unable to carry out this process throughout the year, due to the lack of a journalist dedicated to this section until recently. As for the website of the German Ministry of Transport, which generally indicates the number of vehicles concerned in the world, it is not always exhaustive and above all does not allow the generation of a table.
Our ranking therefore does not include this valuable information. But you should know that many recalls actually only concern a handful of copies in the world. Campaigns that affect hundreds of thousands of cars are much rarer… even if there are still a certain number of them in 2024. In addition to Citroën, the Takata affair once again forced BMW to return more than 260,000 vehicles to France for an unusual reason: a possible change of steering wheel after leaving the factory. The Bavarian brand has also summoned more than 1.5 million vehicles worldwide for a potential braking problem. As for Ford, its European branch ended 2024 by announcing the return to the garage of more than 860,000 cars to check their particle filter, with a schedule spread over the whole of 2025.
Your help is precious to L’Automobile Magazine
Throughout this new year, you can count on L’Automobile Magazine to keep you up to date with recall news, by asking manufacturers the annoying questions when necessary. But we can skip certain campaigns, especially if they are not declared on Rapex. It was one of our readers who informed us of the existence of an anti-pollution update which could have caused a problem on certain Renault diesel vehicles. The operation to analyze the camshaft chain of the 1.5 BlueHDi had also not been declared to the authorities, just like the reprogramming of certain gearboxes on the 48 V hybrids of the Stellantis group or the first fixes for the new Citroën ë-C3. If you have received a letter that concerns you, do not hesitate to write to us at [email protected], specifying the make and model of your car, its engine, its mileage and its date. of circulation.
