Recalls by General Motors, Ford and, just yesterday, Toyota have put automakers on a record pace this year as they scramble to avoid bad publicity, government fines and criminal prosecution.
Since January, at least 9 million vehicles have been recalled in the United States. At that rate, the auto industry could break the record of 30.8 million vehicles recalled in 2004.
"Right now, we're poised to beat that," said Jeremy Acevedo, an analyst at Edmunds.com, a resource for auto information.
Yesterday alone, Toyota announced it was recalling 6.4 million cars and trucks worldwide, including nearly 1.8 million vehicles in the U.S., to fix faulty air bags and a spate of other problems.
The announcement came two weeks after the Justice Department skewered the automaker for covering up problems that caused unintended acceleration in some cars, beginning in 2009. To settle that case, Toyota agreed to pay $1.2 billion, but federal prosecutors still can resurrect a wire fraud charge if the company fails to comply with the terms of the settlement.
The Toyota recall comes in the wake of rival General Motors' recall of 6 million vehicles and as GM faces a Justice Department investigation on the heels of congressional hearings about faulty ignition switches that have been linked to at least 13 deaths and what lawmakers have called a cover-up.
"That can be a real game-changer," said Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety. "There's nothing that changes corporate behavior as much as criminal prosecutions."
Ditlow said he expects smaller recalls in the future as companies move quickly to fix parts and limit the impact of a problem.
"Automakers certainly see value right now in initiating a recall rather than having one imposed on them," Acevedo said.
The high number of recalls could also be attributed to the use of "the same engineering, the same parts, the same suppliers," by some automakers, said Rosemary Shahan, president of the nonprofit Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety.
"To try to cut costs, they are making the same mistakes," Shahan said.
Herald wire services contributed to this report.
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