Even a small safety recall can be trouble, but automakers dread the big ones, which show up on the nightly news, cause widespread disruption and taint their brands. These are the 10 largest automaker-led recall campaigns since 2000, when Congress passed a law imposing new rules on the disclosure of recalls.
Note: NHTSA's recall records tally the "potential number of units affected," whether they are vehicles or tires, putting Ford's Firestone tire recall at the top of the list. Still, some of the biggest safety problems of the past decade do not appear or appear lower than they otherwise would because they were broken into several campaigns rather than being announced all at once.