Ford has stopped selling Mustangs in Australia over safety concerns that have resulted in a huge recall affecting 7724 coupes and convertibles, 500 of which are still being held by dealers. The news continues the company’s wretched run with quality control issues and it’s the 20th Australian recall for the Blue Oval this year.

Ford Australia explained the issue in a statement reading: “Excess heat-shrink on a grounding eyelet in the wiring harness may affect certain vehicle functions, although no related issues or incidents have been reported in Australia.

5

“Ford will contact affected owners directly about rectification. There are just under 500 vehicles in dealer stock affected, and those will not be sold until the issue is rectified. Customer safety is Ford’s highest priority, and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.”

Owners of the affected Mustangs can keep driving them, however, and the parts required to fix the issue aren’t due in Australia until December. The official recall is expected to appear on the federal government’s website in the coming days, and Ford will make the repairs for free. Around 150,000 Mustangs have been recalled in the USA due to the fault.

As WhichCar by Wheels pointed out in a feature last month, Ford has been hammered by quality problems for several years, and the firm’s efforts to correct the slide have borne little fruit. This is the second recall for Mustangs in the last three weeks, with another on August 27 for 4955 cars due to a potential fault with windscreen wipers.

Ford is currently on pace to break the mark of 25 Australian recalls it set in 2025, following on from 17 recalls in 2024. The poor quality control Aussie customers have been dealing with has been mirrored around the world, too. 

The Blue Oval recorded an industry-record 153 recalls globally in 2025 with almost 13 million vehicles affected. Stellantis, which owns 16 brands including Jeep, Ram, Dodge, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler and Opel, had just 53 recalls affecting 2.7 million vehicles in the same period.

5

By June, the marque had issued 50 recall notices involving 11.2 million vehicles, meaning there’s a chance 2025’s record could be broken in terms of the number of cars affected. Ford also had the highest number of recalls in the industry in 2022 and 2023. 

Ford Australia CEO Fadi Mawal said people are taking the wrong lesson from the wave of recalls and praised the company’s reaction to the problem. “People interpret it differently and say ‘Ford is doing more recalls’,” he said. “What we’re doing is … proactive, and when we find something, we let the customers know. We are protecting the customers.” 

Mawal also denied the recent move to extend Ford’s Aussie warranties from five to seven years – as long as they have all servicing done by official Ford dealerships – came as a reaction to the ongoing quality problems.