Ford is having a particularly challenging year in terms of recalls, with 84 individual campaigns and well over 11 million vehicles affected so far in 2026. Though the recall count is down from last year, the number of affected vehicles is up. Clearly, Blue Oval’s quality control has plenty of room for improvement. CEO Jim Farley is fully aware of that, and he also acknowledges the need for Ford to work on long-term durability.
He made these points clear during the automaker’s third-quarter earnings call on October 28, which highlighted a 6.6% drop in sales year-over-year and a net profit around 17% lower compared to the same period in 2025.
Farley Underlines The Need For Improved Reliability
Ford CEO Jim FarleyFord
“The foundation for our sustained growth is world-class quality,” said Ford’s CEO. Of course, he didn’t miss the opportunity to remind us of JD Power’s 2026 initial quality study, which ranked Ford as a leader among mass-market brands. Farley brought up lower warranty costs, as well, but he also admitted things could be a lot better.
“Excluding Novelis [aluminum shortage] and tariffs, we reduced warranty and material costs by $1.5 billion in 2025, and are on track to reduce another $1 billion this year,” he stated. “But we have much more to do, especially on long-term durability and the ownership experience.” That’s a sensible way of looking at it given how Ford generally ranks in quality studies – not terrible by any means, but not great either.
What Does The Bigger Picture Tell Us?
2026 Ford F-150 front 3/4Ford
In December 2025, a Consumer Reports study ranked Ford 18th out of 31 auto brands based on factors like safety, customer satisfaction, and reliability. Additionally, RepairPal gives Blue Oval an above-average 3.5-star rating while ranking it in 21st place out of 32 carmakers. That’s nothing to write home about, but the company’s trucks are actually quite sturdy according to various reports.
For instance, the best-selling F-150 pickup scores 86/100 points in JD Power’s analysis, whereas the smaller Ranger is rated as one of Ford’s most dependable models by RepairPal. And with the brand’s first-place ranking in the initial quality study from JD Power, its overall reputation for reliability is definitely improving. It remains mixed for now, though.
As for the future, Farley briefly mentioned the next-generation F-150 and changes to testing that will, in theory, make it tougher than ever. Among those changes are more testing miles on the road, doubling the current durability testing, and pumping up powertrain testing by a factor of five. And it all starts next year.
CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters:
Jim Farley spoke of Ford’s current trajectory with optimism, but he’s aware that major improvements are still needed. Obviously, that should apply to its supply chain resilience, as well, so as to prevent massive disruptions like the Novelis incident or the more recent shortage which forced its Dearborn plant to sit idle for nearly a week.
If warranty costs are the metric, Ford is making progress on the reliability front. But while Ford has previously stated most of its quality concerns stem from production in the 2010s, a concerning number of 2026 recalls affect either brand-new vehicles, or those just a couple of years old. Addressing its current recall conundrum is essential for maintaining momentum, though, as 2026 will be another year in which Ford issues far more recalls than its competitors.
