Collision repair shops that check vehicles for open recalls at intake are working against a larger pool of affected vehicles than a year ago, according to new data on U.S. auto recall trends. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recorded 431 automotive recalls in the first half of 2026, down 6.5% from 461 a year earlier, the lowest six-month total in six years, even as the number of vehicles swept into those recalls rose 111.6% to 23.48 million, the highest half-year total in five years.
Fewer campaigns swept in more than twice as many vehicles
NHTSA's recall count for the period, according to Sedgwick's H1 2026 U.S. Product Safety and Recall Index report, reflects fewer campaigns overall even as the vehicles caught up in those campaigns climbed sharply, up from 11.09 million a year earlier.
With 74 recalls, electrical systems accounted for more automotive recall events than any other category in the first half of the year. The category also led by volume, with 6.23 million units affected, the most in a decade, a total that included a single Ford recall covering 4.38 million vehicles for a trailer communication defect that could cut off brake response and turn-signal operation while towing.
By volume, back-over prevention systems came next with 3.01 million units, and power train systems followed in third, with 23 recalls covering 2.44 million units, including one recall of 1.39 million vehicles tied to a transmission flaw capable of dropping the vehicle into second gear unexpectedly, the report found.
Detroit News, reporting on the same Sedgwick data, quoted Chris Harvey, Sedgwick's senior vice president of product innovation and industry engagement, saying the trend "does not necessarily indicate a decline in vehicle quality."
Recall volume surged across all five industries Sedgwick tracks
Sedgwick's report, which covers five industries including automotive, found that recall events across all sectors held roughly flat at 1,634 in the first half of 2026 compared with 1,636 a year earlier, while the total volume of recalled units surged 346% to 941.15 million, already exceeding all of 2025's total. In the companion press release on the full report, Harvey said "the number of products affected tells a very different story" than the flat event count alone.
Automakers are also contending with fresh limits on which hardware and software they can source from China and other countries the U.S. has designated as adversaries, along with a prohibition on air bag inflators made by certain non-U.S. suppliers, the report noted.
