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Market pulse newsletter + recall-centric edition = perfect landing spot for a shameless plug for CDG’s Recall Tracker
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Welcome to the Market Pulse—your cheatsheet to auto retail, built to help dealers price right, stock smart, and stay ahead.
H1 2026 recall volume has already doubled last year's pace: 21.7M vehicles affected so far this year vs. 10.7M in the same period of 2025, and Q2 isn't over yet.
95% of Q2 recalls so far require a physical fix: That's a sharp reversal from Q1, when 50% carried OTA fixes, and well above the ~15% historical norm for dealer-involved repairs.
3 OEMs account for 75% of all recalls filed this year: Ford leads at 3.1M vehicles affected, followed by Honda at 2.5M and Chrysler at 1.6M.
(Source: Preliminary Q2 data provided by BizzyCar | Figures could change by end of Q2 review)
Year-to-date recalls are outpacing 2025 by 11 million units, or 103%.
While updating our recall tracker last week, I started wondering how Q2 recall volume was tracking against last year, so I took that question to BizzyCar, which tracks recall data as part of its AI recall services.
Here’s what they said: “So far, there have been about 9.7 million recalls in Q2, so it may or may not reach last quarter's very high 12+ million, but it is already higher than any quarter total in 2025.”
That puts us at around 10.7M vehicles affected in the first half of 2025 vs. 21.7M in the first half of 2026.
Of that volume: Our BizzyCar contact said “only about 530k, or 5%,” of Q2 recalls so far have over-the-air (OTA) fixes.
Custom CDG analysis / BizzyCar data
And of that 5%, 3% are manufacturer-to-vehicle (no dealer involvement), while the other 2% include dealer-involved software updates.
NOTE TO DEALERS:
The recent norm is about 15% of quarterly recalls carrying OTA fixes. Q1 spiked to 50%, and now Q2 is swinging hard the other way, with 95% of recalls so far having no OTA fix.
In other words, now’s the time to review your shop capacity and throughput efficiency because two things are on the line: $$$ made and customers retained.
Ford (unsurprisingly) is leading in recalls so far this year, with Honda and Chrysler in second and third.
BizzyCar’s at-a-glance data for Q2 shows Ford is holding its first-place spot without competition, at 3.1 million vehicles affected.
Custom CDG analysis / BizzyCar data
Honda, meanwhile, has issued 2.5 million recalls so far this year, and Chrysler has issued 1.6 million.
WHY IT MATTERS:
Together, BizzyCar says those three OEMs account for roughly 75% of all recalls filed so far this year.
A quick word from our partner
A video from their rep, before they ever walk in
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It’s not an upgrade. It’s the new standard for concierge lead response.
After reviewing BizzyCar’s latest data, I reached out to National Fixed Operations Specialist Eric Wagner to get his advice for shops navigating this level of recall volume.
Here are his dos and don’ts:
Do: Reframe the recall before the customer spirals.
Wagner says the tone gets set before the technician ever touches the car.
"Recalls in our business are not a bad thing—they're identifying a potential issue and getting in front of it before it actually does cause the customer problem."
Eric Wagner
His point: Dealers who set that framing early tend to calm concerns fast.
"It's the dealership employees’ job to fix the feelings that go with the car,” he said.
Do: Read the bulletin before it hits the lane.
"Another big piece that I think all should be required to do is when a recall or product action comes out, actually read the bulletin,” Wagner said.
What he means: Not every recall is a bay job.
In fact, he recalls a fuel door insulator recall where a technician knocked out 38 vehicles on the lot in under an hour because the only tools required were a knife and three washers sent by the OEM as the "essential tool kit."
Knowing what you're dealing with before the car arrives ultimately offers greater perspective on what the repair needs, how quickly it can be done, and whether it really needs to be done in one of the tech’s workspaces.
Do: Check neighboring used car lots.
Years ago, Wagner's advisors would “partner” with nearby used-vehicle lots, pick up any vehicles with issued recalls, complete the recalls, and return them.
He said it worked well because the other dealer got the customer satisfaction credit, while his shop got the reimbursement.
Don’t: Wait for the customer to bring up their open recall.
At Wagner's stores, checking for open recalls was built into every write-up, every time.
And if a customer came in for an oil change and had an open recall on their VIN, it was automatically added to the RO unless the customer explicitly declined.
For example: "[If] we had an Altima or something that needed… an oil change, we would search it for recalls… and automatically put it on the RO unless the customer specifically said, like, ‘I don't have time’, or ‘I don't wanna do that today.’"
In talking with Wagner, the throughline of everything he shared, and he said it himself, is awareness.
Knowing which recalls can be knocked out in a parking lot versus which ones need a bay.
Knowing which neighboring lots have open recalls sitting on unsold inventory.
Knowing how many flat-rate hours a tech can stack on a high-paying recall before lunch.
None of it is too complicated, but being just 1% more dialed in than the shop down the street is the difference between recall volume feeling like a revenue stream and feeling like you're drowning in it.
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