We blogged in March about the frequency of product recalls in the US; concluding that there were no particular trends (upwards or downwards) in any particular product category. However, looking at the corresponding picture for Europe (once again using data from Stericycle) , there is one product area with a distinct upwards slope: automotive.
Whilst still the smallest of the three product categories (by some way), the number of automotive recalls grew sharply from 160 in 2013 to 442 in 2017. Whilst there have been some very high-profile recalls in recent years, principally the “Diesel Dupe” scandal; it is not clear what has caused this significant rise in the total number of recalls over the period.