Vehicle recalls are fairly common, and are often widely publicised by the media when a large volume of vehicles are affected (i.e. the number runs into the thousands or millions, for example). The frequency has also risen over the decades due to the growing complexity of modern vehicles.

For example, according to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), 1.1 million cars (and almost 1.2 million vehicles in total) were recalled in the first eight months of 2024.

This equated to 3% of the UK car parc (i.e. the total number of cars on UK roads), which stood at 36,165,401 in 2024, according to figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).