Ford and Rivian Recall Some EVs

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Ford Motor

and

Rivian Automotive

recalled some electric vehicles.

EV recalls are headline making. EVs are new and trying to disrupt the century-plus old auto industry. But EVs, in the end, are just cars with batteries and many EV recalls are for very car-like issues.

Monday, a recall notice for 1,175 Ford (ticker: F) Mustang Mach E vehicles was posted on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website. “The right-rear axle half shafts may have been manufactured improperly, allowing the half shaft stem to break under load,” reads NHTSA notice. The parts will be inspected and replaced free of charge.

A new notice was also posted for 207 Rivian (RIVN) R1T pickup trucks and R1S SUVs for front seat belts anchors that may have been improperly installed. Those parts will be fixed for free as well.

Year to date, Ford has issued 52 recalls impacting about 7.2 million vehicles. Rivian has had two recalls impacting 680 vehicles.

Among other automakers,

Tesla

(TSLA) has issued 13 recalls impacting about 2.3 million vehicles. Most of those were software-related issues.

General Motors

(GM) and Chrysler have issued 19 and 25 recalls, respectively. GM’s recalls impact about 2.1 million vehicles. Chrysler’s about 1.3 million vehicles.

Toyota Motor

(TM) has issued 11 recalls, impacting about 700,000 vehicles.

Overall, about 22 million vehicles have been recalled so far in 2022. About 35 million vehicles were recalled in 2021, according to NHTSA data.

Recalls are a way of life in the auto industry and don’t tend to impact stocks all that much unless they are large enough to create charges that fall outside of a company’s normal warranty expense. These two shouldn’t fall into the significant category.

Coming into the week of trading, Ford stock is down 27% year to date. Rivian stock is down about 69% year to date. The

S&P 500
and

Dow Jones Industrial Average
are off about 18% and 14%, respectively.

Rising interest rates has investors worried about a slowing economy and slowing car demand. Rivian investors have also had to deal with a slower than hoped for ramp up in production. At the start of the year, Wall Street analysts hoped Rivian would deliver about 40,000 vehicles. Rivian will do closer to 25,000 in 2022.

Write to Al Root at [email protected]