Ford Motor Co. (F) is having a rough week. The automaker just announced a recall of over 270,000 electric and hybrid vehicles across the U.S. because of a problem that sounds like a driver's nightmare: your car might not actually stay in park when you think it's in park.

The Problem Under the Hood

According to a Thursday notice from the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the recall covers certain 2022-2026 F-150 Lightning BEV models, 2024-2026 Mustang Mach-E vehicles, and 2025-2026 Maverick hybrids. That's a lot of supposedly parked cars potentially rolling away.

The culprit is the integrated park module, which can fail to lock the vehicle into park position even after the driver shifts into park. Imagine walking away from your car in a parking lot only to watch it slowly start rolling. Not ideal. The good news is that Ford will fix the issue with a free software update for the park module, so owners won't need to pay out of pocket for the repair.

Ford's EV Strategy Shift

This recall arrives at an awkward moment for Ford, which just announced major changes to its electric vehicle strategy. On Monday, the Michigan-based automaker revealed plans to refocus on higher-return opportunities. That means expanding its hybrid lineup and concentrating North American EV development on a new, low-cost, flexible Universal EV platform.

Ford also made the headline-grabbing decision to halt production of the electric F-150 Lightning, one of its flagship EV models. That move has sparked plenty of speculation about where the broader EV market is headed. Some startups remain bullish on electric trucks, though. Slate Auto, which is backed by Amazon (AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos, is betting that demand will hold strong. The company has reportedly secured 150,000 reservations for its electric pickup truck, suggesting that appetite for EVs hasn't completely evaporated.

A Year of Recalls

If this recall feels like just another entry on a long list, that's because it is. Ford has issued over 135 recalls in 2025 alone, spanning multiple model lines and affecting millions of vehicles. The scale of these safety issues raises questions about quality control and whether the company's rapid push into electrification has stretched its manufacturing processes thin.

Ford Stock Performance

Despite the recall news, Ford (F) stock has been on a solid run. The stock has gained 36.34% over the past 12 months, showing a strong upward trend. With a market capitalization of $53.67 billion, Ford sits comfortably in large-cap territory. The stock's 52-week range spans from $8.44 to $13.99, and it currently has a Relative Strength Index (RSI) of 56.13, indicating relatively neutral momentum.

Ford stock also scores an 82.42 on the Value scale, suggesting it may still be attractively priced relative to its fundamentals. Whether that value holds up will depend partly on how well the company executes its pivot toward hybrids and its new EV platform, and whether it can get a handle on its recall issues.