Firestone Expected to Announce Tire Recall
In potentially one of the largest auto-defect recalls in U.S. history, Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. is expected to announce today that it will start replacing millions of tires that have been linked to nearly four dozen highway deaths.
Officials at the Nashville-based tire maker scheduled a news conference this morning in Washington with Ford Motor Co., which uses the Firestone tires in many of its models. The two companies would not comment Tuesday on any possible recall.
Federal safety examiners are investigating about 300 complaints that three Firestone tire models are prone to peeling apart, particularly when installed on sport-utility vehicles and light trucks.
About 46 highway deaths may have resulted from related accidents, government officials say.
Representatives from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration met with officials at Firestone and Ford for more than four hours Tuesday to discuss the case, according to Rae Tyson, a spokesman for the government agency.
The meeting was called at the request of the companies, Tyson said. He declined to comment on whether a recall was discussed.
Firestone--a unit of Japanese tire maker Bridgestone Corp.--has insisted its Firestone ATX, ATX II and Wilderness tires are safe. So far, the company has only offered to conduct inspections for anxious customers and provide a credit good toward replacing the tires, based upon their age and condition.
Analysts say a nationwide recall could cost nearly $500 million. Outside safety groups and other sources have estimated that the company will recall as many as 20 million tires.
Ford has taken no action in the U.S., though the auto maker recently revealed it has replaced about 46,000 Firestone tires overseas for safety reasons.
Recall Expected in California
The recall is expected to begin in seven states, including California, Texas and Florida, where many of the initial complaints originated, according to Sean Kane, president of Strategic Safety, a Virginia-based organization that has been calling upon Firestone to replace the tires.
He said the company appears to be focusing first on warm-weather regions, where investigators suspect the defects are more likely to emerge.
Kane said the recall should also cover other auto manufacturers that have installed the tires. In addition to the Ford Explorer, the tires are used on Ford F-Series pickups, Mercury Mountaineer SUVs, and other SUVs and pickups made by General Motors Corp., Mazda Motor Corp., Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co.
“We will be glad when all of these tires are replaced,” Kane said. “American consumers deserve at least what consumers overseas deserve.”
Ford and Firestone customers, who have been swamping both companies’ toll-free hotlines and auto repair centers in recent days, said they would welcome a recall. But some drivers faulted the companies for moving too slowly.
“I will have serious long-term reservations about remaining a Ford customer, given the fact that they appear to have known about this for some time and took no action,” said Michael Dickerson of San Pedro, a frustrated Ford Explorer owner. “They put my life and the lives of my family at risk.”
After spending considerable time on the telephone Tuesday to inquire about his tires, Dickerson said he was told the most he could hope for was a free inspection. But he noted that investigators say oftentimes the tire damage is not visible.
“So what good is a visual inspection?” Dickerson asked.
By some estimates, as many as 48 million Firestone tires might have been sold over the past decade, but it’s unclear how many of those tires are still on the road.
On average, light truck and sport-utility tires only last about 40,000 to 60,000 miles or about three to four years, industry sources say. So a large percentage of the Firestones covered by the recall may have been recycled already or tossed in dumps.
And fewer than half of all car and truck owners buy the same brand of tire when they replace the rubber that came with their vehicles, said one industry executive who asked to remain anonymous because he works for a Firestone competitor.
Consumer satisfaction specialist J.D. Power & Associates measures tire buyers’ brand loyalty each year, the executive said, and while Firestone has one of the higher loyalty rates in the industry, “it is still down there around 30% to 50%.”
The executive said Firestone, one of the biggest tire makers in the world, should have the manufacturing capacity to churn out replacements quickly.
“After all, the people are not going to run in to get their tires changed all in one day,” the executive said. “They’ll be trickling into Firestone stores for weeks.”
A Second Major Embarrassment
But a recall would be a second major embarrassment for Firestone. After disputing complaints about its Firestone 500 radial tires in 1978, the company eventually agreed to a nationwide recall. An estimated 8 million tires were replaced, after more than 50 deaths were blamed on the product.
There have been half a dozen major auto defect recalls since 1995 involving 28.1 million cars and trucks, most from General Motors Corp. and Ford, the world’s two largest auto makers. Problems ranged from faulty ignition switches on 8.8 million Ford vehicles to potentially inoperable seat belt latches on 8.8 million cars for nearly a dozen manufacturers.
Owners of the tires can call Firestone at (800) 465-1904 for more information.
