In 2014, at least 29 million vehicles have been recalled, 25 million of which are in the United States. Problems include ignition switches, suspect welds, brakes, power steering, failing air bags and lights, among others. The range of vehicles involved in the recalls is vast, including full-size pickups, luxury sedans, sport-utility vehicles, economy cars and most everything in between.

In recent months, there have been rebuffed calls by consumer advocate groups to recall millions of additional autos for brake line issues.

And all of that is just in General Motors' stable of vehicles.

Detroit-based GM, the world's third-largest automaker behind Toyota and Volkswagen, has received the bulk of bad publicity and legal recourse after this year's recalls, but it's far from the only company to have to recall vehicles.

Just this week, Hyundai announced a recall of 883,000 Sonata sedans with a transmission issue, and Chrysler recalled nearly 800,000 SUVs due to an ignition switch problem. Various automakers, including BMW, Nissan, Honda and Mazda, have recalled vehicles after air bags from Japanese manufacturer Takata Corporation were found to have a likelihood of rupturing.

The amount of recalls so far this year has resulted in a most dubious record. In early July, the total number of cars recalled reached 37.5 million, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's lists, blowing past the old record of 30.8 million set in 2004 with nearly half the year remaining. The number has since gone up to 40 million, with more expected soon, due to more recalls related to Takata.

Yet, with manufacturing technology constantly improving, one would think that such a widespread and comprehensive list of recalls should be a thing of the past. Has enforcement of safety issues improved greatly, or are automakers putting a lower-quality product on the road in the name of expediency?

One issue is that as technology improves, so does the complexity of a car, including electronic components. The greater amount of electronics increases the likelihood of failure, according to a March report on warranties and recalls from the Society of Automotive Analysts.

The report put some of the increased recall activity down to the same parts being used by many models and automakers, as well as automakers contracting out parts to similar companies. While that's good for initial cost effectiveness, it's also a massive risk when those parts fail or malfunction and the issues affect many models — as they have this year.

Furthermore, when a company such as Takata has massive internal issues, like corruption, lax quality control and suspect record-keeping, as Tech Times reports, it means that many of the world's best-known automakers put a crucial safety feature in the hands a sinking ship without knowing that the boat was taking on water.

The NHTSA's regulatory regime has also become more substantive in recent years, as Derek Mead of Motherboard wrote upon the announcement of huge Toyota and GM recalls during the spring. Just after the turn of the millennium, Congress passed the TREAD Act, which requires safety reports each quarter from car companies as well as notifications when a problem is discovered.

Starting Aug. 20, the NHTSA will launch safercar.gov, which will allow vehicle owners to search for recalls using their car's vehicle identification number. Automakers will be required to update the VINs weekly for the NHTSA's database, and provide owners notice of recalled vehicles within 60 days.

There's also an element of negligence, especially as GM's prominent ignition switch problems are concerned. Dating back to 2001, there were reports of GM vehicles having ignition issues. The company redesigned the switch a couple times and claimed the problem was solved. However, the switch caused at least 13 deaths, and the vehicles in question date back to the 2007 model year. The NHTSA eventually concluded that GM had misled investigators.

The prospect of 50 million or more auto recalls in one year shouldn't exactly be comforting to anyone who drives. However, it appears that in the wake of GM's issues, other automakers are taking an extra-careful look at what aspects of their cars need to be appraised for safety issues. Whether this is the peak of recall activity, or just the start of millions more remains to be seen.