Study Indicates More Recalls On The Way In 2015

2014 was called the year of the recall. With 63.9 million vehicles recalled, it’s hard to argue with the nickname. The GM ignition switch and Takata airbag recalls dominated headlines and provided automakers with bad PR. However, now it’s a new year and there are new possibilities. Could that mean that 2014 will be a quiet year for automotive safety recalls? Not so fast, according to a recent study. It appears that 2015 could be another year of heavy recall numbers.

The second annual automotive industry warranty and recall study doesn’t predict major recalls of the GM and Takata variety, however, it won’t be a slow year for manufacturer safety recalls. Advisory firm Stout, Risus and Ross carried out the study. Neil Steinkamp, the managing director or SSR told the Detroit News, “We will continue to see an elevated level of recall volume. The regulators have said we will … and they’re addressing safety issues very proactively.”

The study further found that in 2014 every automaker recalled at least twice as many vehicles as they sold. According to the DN, for GM that meant recalling 9.1 million more vehicles than they sold. Honda recalled 5.9 times more vehicles than they sold and Fiat Chrysler recalled 4.3 times more vehicles than they ended up selling in 2014. The Takata airbag recall represented 30 percent of all recalls in 2014, while the GM ignition switch recall made up 20 percent.

The study further found that automakers were able to repair 80 percent of the vehicles recalled. However, the SSR study pointed out that some 46 million unrepaired recalled vehicles remain on the road. However the NHTSA reported recently that 90 percent of vehicles subject to the Takata airbag recall have not yet been repaired.

Mark Rosekind, the new administrator of the NHTSA feels that recalls could go up in 2015, but that’s not necessarily bad thing. Rosekind said, “I think we could actually see an increase in the number of recalls. The reality is that means your system is working. We’d rather have people on the proactive end catching stuff really early. I’d rather have people be preemptive than waiting too long and making a mistake, because you can’t save those lives after they’re gone.” The organization that Rosekind leads, the NHTSA collected more in civil penalties in 2014, $126 million than they did through the entire previous history of the organization…combined. The NHTSA will have more support to pursue recall and safety related issues this year. The Obama’s budget for 2015 includes an extra $20 million dollars for the Office of Defects Investigation at the NHTSA.