Automakers have recalled approximately 11 million vehicles in the U.S. so far this year, says the Los Angeles Times. That's already half of the 22 million cars recalled in 2013, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and over one third of the 30.8 million vehicles recalled in 2004, the most recent high-recall year.
General Motors has recalled the most with 6 million—including over 2 million for an ignition switch issue linked to 13 deaths. Other big recalls include 650,000 Jeep Grand Cherokees and Dodge Durangos; 1 million Nissans including the Altima and Sentra; 900,000 Honda Odyssey minivans; and 700,000 Toyota Prius hybrids. On Apr. 7, Ford recalled over 400,000 older cars and sport utility vehicles to fix rusting frame parts or faulty seats, depending on the model.
"This is the new normal for recall numbers," Karl Brauer, an analyst at Kelley Blue Book told the LA Times. Automakers are more willing to do recalls today because they fear the wrath of federal regulators after seeing how delayed recalls caused big problems for Toyota, says Brauer. Toyota has agreed to pay a $1.2 billion fine to settle a four-year federal criminal investigation into whether it properly told regulators about safety complaints concerning sudden acceleration of its vehicles.
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