US market sees over 650 safety recalls involving 17.8 million vehicles in 2012

January 18, 2013: The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has revealed that auto manufacturers filed more than 650 safety recalls, affecting over 17.8 million vehicles, child seats and vehicle equipment, in 2012. The NHTSA played a significant role by itself influencing the recall of more than 9 million vehicles and 60,000 items of vehicle equipment, including tyres and child safety seats, in 2012, it said.

"Every day millions of motorists are safe on our nation's roadways because of the work and dedication of our defect investigation and compliance teams here at NHTSA," said US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "We have one of the most effective programmes in the world and will continue, in 2013, to pursue investigations and recalls wherever our data justifies doing so."

As a data-driven agency, NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation and its counterpart, the Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance, constantly review information from numerous sources to identify potential safety defect trends, including direct consumer complaints, early warning reporting data, technical service bulletins, as well as independent auto web sites, fan sites, bulletin boards, trade publications, and popular magazines for information that might warrant an investigation. Over the last three years, NHTSA's defect and compliance investigations and compliance testing have resulted in over 430 recalls involving 22 million vehicles and products.

According to NHTSA, many recalls are initiated by consumer complaints. In 2012, NHTSA received 41,912 complaints concerning potential safety defects, 49,417 in 2011, and 65,765 in 2010. "The role of the consumer in influencing auto recalls cannot be under-estimated," said NHTSA Administrator David Strickland. "Consumers are the lifeblood of the recall process and recalls are often the direct result of a government investigation into consumer complaints."