Most Recalled Brands

BusinessWeek has trolled the NHTSA files to find out which automakers have had to recall their brand new 2007 models the most, and the winner is Volkswagen thanks to a recall of just over 1 million 2007 New Beetles because of potentially faulty brake light switches. Of course, Ford announced a major recall of 3.6 million vehicles earlier this month for defective cruise control switches, but none of the vehicles affected were 2007 models and so don’t count for this list.

We’ve complied the rest of the data for you in a handy list after the jump, because we hate having to click through BusinessWeek’s 15-part slide show, and we suspect you might, too.

[Source: BusinessWeek]

Most Recalled Vehicles of 2007

2007 Volkswagen New Beetle
1,002,000 units affected
On certain passenger, wagon, and convertible vehicles with or without cruise control, a brake light switch may malfunction if it was installed incorrectly.

2007 Toyota Sequoia
533,124
On certain trucks and minivans, due to possible improper finishing of the front suspension lower ball joint, some ball joints may experience an incidental deterioration of the internal lubrication. This may cause the ball joint to wear and loosen prematurely, which could result in increased steering effort, reduced vehicle self-centering, and noise in the front suspension.
2007 Jeep Liberty
149,605
On certain passenger vehicles equipped with Valeo heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, the blower motor may overheat.

2007 Nissan Altima
140,582
On certain vehicles, if a sufficiently hot object enters the air filter housing through the engine fresh-air-intake system and comes in contact with the engine air filter, the air filter may ignite.

2007 Hyundai Tucson
128,300
On certain sport-utility vehicles, static air-bag deployment testing-conducted by NHTSA using fifth-percentile female dummies-indicated if a small-stature adult driver, not wearing a seat belt, is involved in a frontal or near frontal crash, deployment of the driver air bag may result in an insufficient margin of compliance as measured by the test dummy used in the NHTSA test.

2007 Dodge Nitro, Jeep Wrangler
80,894
On certain vehicles, the totally integrated power module was programmed with software that may allow the engine to stall under certain operating conditions.

2007 Suzuki Forenza, Reno
75,697
On certain passenger vehicles, the front seat-belt tongue will not latch into the buckle and, in rare cases, the locked tongue will pop out under low stretching force. If the buckle does not latch completely, the buckle could release without the release button being pressed.

2007 Volkswagen Passat, Passat Wagon
58,800
Certain passenger vehicles equipped with a 2.0-liter engine with 147kw may have a vacuum line that may fracture and become disconnected at low ambient temperatures. On certain sixth-generation passenger vehicles, the wiper motor may fail during heavy rain due to excessive moisture in the wiper motor.

2007 Chrysler Sebring and 300; Dodge Caliber, Magnum, Charger and Nitro; Jeep Compass, Liberty, Commander, Grand Cherokee, and Jeep Wrangler
50,665
On certain vehicles, the antilock-brake-system control module software may cause the rear brakes to lock up during certain braking conditions.

2007 Infiniti G35 Coupe
23,934
Certain vehicles fail to comply with the vertical gradient and headlamp photometric values requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108.

2007 Chevrolet Aveo
17,676
On certain passenger vehicles equipped with a 1.6-liter engine, during a severe frontal crash test, the fuel line in the engine compartment developed a fracture. In addition, the crash damage caused four short-circuits in the fuse block, the combination of which allowed the fuel pump to continue running and fuel to leak onto the ground.

2007 Nissan Versa
16,309
On certain hatchback vehicles, the terminals for the passenger-side seat-belt tension-sensor harness connector may have been damaged during the manufacturing process. This could result in a loss of electrical continuity causing the occupant detection system to become inoperative.

2007 GMC Acadia, Saturn Outlook
13,032
On certain vehicles, the sensing and diagnostic module, which controls the function of front air bags, may not operate properly. As a result, the front air bags may fail to deploy in a frontal crash. Also, the air-bag warning lamp on the instrument panel may fail to provide warning that the system is inoperative.

2007 Ford Expedition
10,061
On certain sport-utility vehicles, the front and rear tires on the driver’s side of affected vehicles may have been damaged at the center tread during production.