A new study highlighting the flurry of U.S. automotive recalls asserts that automakers and suppliers remain focused on innovation and cost cuts while vehicle quality takes a hit.
The study, "The Auto Industry's Growing Recall Problem -- and How to Fix It," shows that automakers and suppliers paid almost $11.8 billion in claims and recorded $10.3 billion in warranty accruals for U.S. recalls in 2016. That $22.1 billion total is an estimated 26 percent increase over the previous year.
Michael Held, enterprise improvement director at the global consulting firm AlixPartners, which led the study, told Automotive News that automakers and suppliers totaled an estimated $17.5 billion on claims and warranty accruals in 2015.
The number of vehicles recalled in the U.S. in 2016 rose 4.5 percent to 53.1 million, from 50.8 million in 2015 --making 2016 the highest year on record, the study says. Nearly half of those recalled vehicles were attributed to Takata Corp.'s defective airbag inflators or General Motors' faulty ignition switches, which combined for 23 million.
In addition, suppliers' share of total recall costs has tripled from 5 to 7 percent from 2007 to 2013, to 15 to 20 percent since 2013, according to the study, while "the frequency that suppliers are named in recall notices has doubled."
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