VehDB Insights · NHTSA data

The Most Recalled Car Brands of 2021

Every vehicle recall campaign reported to NHTSA in 2021, ranked by brand. Counts are distinct federal campaigns; units are manufacturer-estimated vehicles affected.

988
Recall campaigns
distinct NHTSA campaigns, 2021
235
Brands affected
with at least one campaign
29,334,550
Vehicles affected
manufacturer estimates, summed per campaign
17
Do-not-drive advisories
campaigns flagged by NHTSA
Car brands ranked by number of NHTSA recall campaigns in 2021
# Brand Recall campaigns Vehicles affected
1 Mercedes-Benz
68
2,137,361
2 Ford
52
5,764,029
3 Chevrolet
40
7,535,729
4 Freightliner
28
560,947
5 GMC
26
7,253,270
6 Nissan
23
1,471,936
7 BMW
21
192,343
8 Forest River
21
3,996
9 Thomas Built Buses
20
8,991
10 Volkswagen
19
152,101
11 Hyundai
18
1,371,185
12 RAM
18
1,152,759
13 Porsche
17
74,714
14 Audi
16
833,879
15 Cadillac
15
6,825,291
16 KIA
15
1,357,546
17 Altec
15
12,458
18 Honda
14
1,389,623
19 Volvo
14
565,203
20 Newmar
13
10,837

Top 20 brands by campaign count. Source: NHTSA recall flat file, updated Jul 4, 2026.

The biggest recalls of 2021

The ten campaigns that affected the most vehicles, regardless of brand.

Cadillac +2 more brands · Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module

2,641,272 vehicles · 14 models · campaign 21V050000

General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2007-2011 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Escalade EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado 1500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 1500, Yukon, Yukon XL, and 2009-2011 Chevrolet Silverado 2500, Silverado 3500, GMC Sierra 25...

Ford +2 more brands · Air Bags:frontal:driver Side:inflator Module

2,602,668 vehicles · 7 models · campaign 21V158000

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2007-2011 Ranger, 2006-2012 Fusion, Lincoln Zephyr, Lincoln MKZ, 2006-2011 Mercury Milan, 2007-2010 Ford Edge, and Lincoln MKX vehicles. The driver's side air bag inflator may explode due to propellant degradatio...

Cadillac +2 more brands · Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module

1,778,128 vehicles · 14 models · campaign 21V054000

General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2014 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Silverado 2500, Silverado 3500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 2500, Sierra 3500, Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of AL,...

Mercedes-Benz +1 more brands · Communication: Auto Crash Notification

1,292,258 vehicles · 95 models · campaign 21V058000

Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC (MBUSA) is recalling certain 2016 - 2021 CLA-Class, GLA-Class, GLE-Class, GLS-Class, SLC-Class, A-Class, GT-Class, C-Class, E-Class, S-Class, CLS-Class, SL-Class, B-Class, GLB-Class, GLC-Class, and G-Class vehicles. Please refer to the...

Nissan · Exterior Lighting:brake Lights:switch

807,376 vehicles · 1 model · campaign 21V135000

Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2016-2019 Nissan Sentra vehicles. The brake light switch may become contaminated, preventing the circuit from closing and the brake lights from illuminating.

Honda · Latches/Locks/Linkages:hood:latch

724,826 vehicles · 3 models · campaign 21V932000

Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2019 Passport, 2016-2019 Pilot, and 2017-2020 Ridgeline vehicles. The hood latch striker may become damaged and separate from the hood, which can result in the hood opening while driving.

Cadillac +2 more brands · Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module

692,526 vehicles · 14 models · campaign 21V053000

General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2013 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, and Escalade EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado 1500, Silverado 2500/3500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 1500, Sierra 2500/3500, Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles originally sold, or...

Ford · Suspension:rear

631,176 vehicles · 1 model · campaign 21V537000

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2013-2017 Explorer vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jerse...

Acura +1 more brands · Fuel System, Gasoline:delivery:fuel Pump

624,552 vehicles · 17 models · campaign 21V215000

Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Acura MDX, MDX Sport Hybrid, RDX, TLX, Honda Accord, Civic Hatchback, Insight, 2019 Acura ILX, Honda Accord Hybrid, Civic Coupe, Civic Coupe Si, Civic Sedan, Civic Sedan Si, Civic Type R, Fit, HR-...

Ford · Structure:body

616,967 vehicles · 1 model · campaign 21V316000

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2016-2019 Explorer vehicles. The retention pins could loosen and allow the roof rail covers to detach from the vehicle.

Methodology

  • Source: the official NHTSA recall flat file (US DOT, public domain), mirrored into VehDB weekly. Last refresh: Jul 4, 2026.
  • A "recall" is one distinct NHTSA vehicle campaign (type V) whose report date falls in 2021. Equipment, tire, and child-seat campaigns are excluded.
  • "Vehicles affected" uses the manufacturer's estimate, counted once per campaign (the source file repeats it for every affected model).
  • Counts are absolute, not normalized by sales: brands with bigger lineups and higher volumes naturally accumulate more campaigns. A high count is not by itself a verdict on quality.
  • A campaign spanning multiple brands (shared manufacturer) counts once for each brand it touches.
Other years: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010

Is your vehicle on a recall list?

Check any US-market vehicle free, or query this dataset programmatically via the VehDB API.

Recall & Safety Checker Recall API