2021 Car Recall Rankings by Manufacturer

Name: 2021 Car Recall Rankings by Manufacturer
Creator: The Weekly Driver

Final figures, locked November 7, 2026.

Mercedes-Benz Group filed the most vehicle recalls in 2021, 68. Among single brands, Mercedes-Benz led with 68. Porsche had the most recalls per million vehicles built for model years 2012 to 2021, 28.91, and Lexus the fewest, 0.34, from 1 recall. Data through November 7, 2026.

Source: The Weekly Driver analysis of NHTSA recall data, November 2026.

2021 recalls by brand

2021 recalls by brand, ranked by recalls per million vehicles built for model years 2012 to 2021; rank 1 is the highest rate. Brands with at least 500,000 vehicles built in that window are listed. Data through November 7, 2026.
Rank	Brand	Parent company	Recalls	Vehicles built, model years 2012-2021	Recalls per million vehicles
1	Porsche	Volkswagen Group	17	588,069	28.91
2	Mercedes-Benz	Mercedes-Benz Group	68	3,424,435	19.86
3	Land Rover	Tata/JLR	9	696,082	12.93
4	Lincoln	Ford Motor Co.	12	1,005,952	11.93
5	Tesla	Tesla	11	1,003,540	10.96
6	Volvo	Geely	9	881,701	10.21
7	Cadillac	General Motors	15	1,583,531	9.47
8	Audi	Volkswagen Group	16	1,970,302	8.12
9	Infiniti	Nissan	8	1,200,867	6.66
10	BMW	BMW Group	21	3,473,986	6.04
11	Volkswagen	Volkswagen Group	19	3,715,790	5.11
12	GMC	General Motors	26	5,158,389	5.04
13	Buick	General Motors	8	2,076,049	3.85
14	Ram	Stellantis	15	4,604,733	3.26
15	Mitsubishi	Mitsubishi	3	954,300	3.14
16	Hyundai	Hyundai Motor Group	18	7,190,105	2.50
17	Kia	Hyundai Motor Group	15	6,026,602	2.49
18	Ford	Ford Motor Co.	51	22,262,491	2.29
18	Mazda	Mazda	7	3,054,315	2.29
20	Chevrolet	General Motors	37	19,318,061	1.92
21	Nissan	Nissan	23	12,256,201	1.88
22	Jeep	Stellantis	10	7,941,021	1.26
23	Acura	Honda	2	1,594,247	1.25
24	Subaru	Subaru	7	5,660,904	1.24
25	Honda	Honda	13	13,806,017	0.94
26	Dodge	Stellantis	4	4,715,847	0.85
27	Toyota	Toyota Motor	11	20,568,018	0.53
28	Chrysler	Stellantis	1	2,235,271	0.45
29	Lexus	Toyota Motor	1	2,983,193	0.34

2021 recalls by parent company

2021 recalls by parent company, ranked by recalls per million vehicles built for model years 2012 to 2021. A campaign naming several of a company's brands counts once. Data through November 7, 2026.
Rank	Parent company	Recalls	Vehicles built, model years 2012-2021	Recalls per million vehicles
1	Mercedes-Benz Group	68	3,424,435	19.86
2	Tata/JLR	14	920,818	15.20
3	Geely	11	885,717	12.42
4	Tesla	11	1,003,540	10.96
5	Volkswagen Group	51	6,274,161	8.13
6	BMW Group	21	3,936,868	5.33
7	Mitsubishi	3	954,300	3.14
8	Hyundai Motor Group	35	13,321,448	2.63
9	Mazda	7	3,054,315	2.29
10	Ford Motor Co.	53	23,268,443	2.28
11	Nissan	28	13,457,068	2.08
12	Stellantis	34	19,878,044	1.71
13	General Motors	43	28,136,030	1.53
14	Subaru	7	5,660,904	1.24
15	Honda	13	15,400,264	0.84
16	Toyota Motor	12	23,551,211	0.51

Most-recalled models in 2021

Recall campaigns naming each model, data through November 7, 2026.

What gets recalled: top components in 2021

Recall campaigns naming each NHTSA component group, data through November 7, 2026. One campaign can name several.

Air bags: 67 recalls
Electrical system: 46 recalls
Seat belts: 33 recalls
Fuel system, gasoline: 32 recalls
Service brakes, hydraulic: 31 recalls
Suspension: 29 recalls
Structure: 25 recalls
Exterior lighting: 22 recalls
Power train: 21 recalls
Steering: 21 recalls

Cite this

The Weekly Driver, "2021 Car Recall Rankings by Manufacturer," data through November 7, 2026, https://theweeklydriver.com/reliability/recalls-by-manufacturer/2021/

Other years

How these figures work

Each recall is one NHTSA vehicle recall campaign, counted in the year NHTSA received the manufacturer's report. A brand's rate divides its recalls by the vehicles it built over the ten model years ending with that year, from the production figures manufacturers report to NHTSA. Campaigns that a truck maker, upfitter or mobility-van converter files under a car brand's name are left out of that brand's count.

The full method · NHTSA's recall data files