Popular utes hit with safety recalls

Two of Australia’s best-selling utes have been recalled by their manufacturers as precautionary measures against potential safety issues that may arise while the vehicle are in use.

The BYD Shark 6 ute is the latest model where owners and drivers have been asked to return their vehicles to dealers so work can be done to address the risk.

A statement this week by the manufacturer said the voluntary recall was related to a fault with how the spare wheel was secured, which led to the possibility of it breaking away when the car is moving.

The issue affects some but not all examples of the strong-selling plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) dual-cab ute.

According to the release, BYD was urgently recalling 32,009 cars, produced between August 29, 2024 and June 15, 2026 inclusive.

“BYD has identified that in certain circumstances, incorrect installation of the spare wheel, incorrect positioning of the spare wheel tray or insufficient fastening torque may cause abnormal wear of the spare wheel support cable,” it said.

“Continued movement and friction during vehicle operation may cause the cable to fail, resulting in spare wheel detachment. This may create a hazard to other road users and potentially cause serious injury or death.

“For involved vehicles, BYD will replace the Spare Wheel Lifter Assembly with an updated design, free of charge to the customer.”

A breakdown of the numbers shows the recall affects 28,543 examples of the Shark 6 Premium ute, 2100 examples of the recently released flagship Performance ute and 1366 examples of the workhorse Dynamic Cab Chassis grades.

The repair action is reported to take around 30 minutes.

Despite the short time frame, with only about 100 BYD dealers in Australia, owners and drivers are urged to be patient as the company works through the volume of cars involved.

“Depending on the dealer’s work schedule owners may be required to make their vehicle available for a longer period.”

BYD said it would contact owners via email and the BYD app where applicable.

While waiting for the repair, BYD recommends that owners and drivers of the affected Shark 6 cars remove the spare wheel altogether.

The BYD recall comes hot on the heels of last month’s big safety recall involving the best-selling vehicle in Australia over the past three years, the Ford Ranger ute.

In this case, there is the danger of the side curtain airbags incorrectly deploying during an impact, due to it making contact with the B-pillar trim during inflation, the recall states.

The issue relates to 13,907 examples of certain Ranger four-door dual cab ute models, according to information provided by Ford to the Federal Government’s regulator for approved road vehicles.

In layman’s terms, the post between the front and rear door has a cover that the airbag above may dislodge, potentially creating a projectile inside the car.

“In the event of an accident, airbags not deploying as intended and/or detached particles being propelled into the vehicle could increase the risk of injury or death to vehicle occupants,” the website added.

The affected Ranger dual-cab utes were manufactured between November 26, 2025 and July 10, 2026, and are identified as MY26 and MY26.5 models.

Ford said that a free “remedy” should be available in dealers this week, and owners contacted accordingly. Until then, a company spokesperson said that it was safe to continue driving, as all airbags still function as intended.

Ford has voluntarily issued 22 recalls this year and may top its record last year of 25 recalls.

To put that in perspective, Hyundai was next with 13, followed by Nissan with eight, Toyota with seven, Land Rover with six, and then Volkswagen, BMW, Kia, Lexus and Peugeot each with five recalls apiece.

Since January 1 this year, 35 light commercial vehicles including utes have been recalled in Australia.