Goodyear to Replace Ford’s Tires at No Cost

Ford Motor Co. and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. agreed Wednesday that the auto maker’s customers can replace their Firestone Wilderness AT tires at more than 5,000 Goodyear retail stores free of charge.

Goodyear, the largest tire maker, said it is still working to ensure availability of tires at Ford and Mercury dealerships through its own dealer network. Goodyear has increased output at seven North American plants, the companies said.

Ford last week said it would replace 13 million tires made by Bridgestone/Firestone Inc., most on the Explorer sport-utility vehicle, because the world’s second-biggest auto maker said data suggested the tires might be prone to fail. Ford began negotiating with Goodyear, Continental and Michelin last week to work out ways to replace the tires.

Ford expects to make similar announcements with the other tire makers “as soon as practical,” said Ken Zino, a spokesman for the auto maker. Ford hasn’t determined how much business each tire maker will receive, he said.

Goodyear, based in Akron, Ohio, wants most of the replacement tire business. “It’s our desire to handle a majority of those [Ford] customers,” spokesman Chuck Sinclair said.

Sinclair said the agreement doesn’t involve Goodyear permanently taking a piece of the business formerly handled by Bridgestone/Firestone.

The unit of Japan’s Bridgestone Corp. last week said it would stop supplying tires to Ford because of broken trust between the companies. The tire maker has said its tires are safe and that the Explorer’s design contributed to the accidents.

Goodyear and Ford want to “deal with this issue first,” Sinclair said of the tire-replacement program. The Goodyear retail outlets will begin the exchanges today.

Ford fell 39 cents to $24.60, while Goodyear declined 7 cents to $28.88 on the New York Stock Exchange.