Ford Seen Pressing Bridgestone for Cash

Bridgestone Corp. and Ford Motor Co. held high-level talks last weekend that industry analysts believe centered on the auto maker’s demand for cash to cover the cost of its massive recalls of tires linked to hundreds of deaths and injuries in the United States.

The secretive talks were thought to be the first of their kind since Ford and Bridgestone’s Firestone unit severed their nearly 100-year relationship in a bitter dispute over allegedly faulty Firestone tires.

The talks took place in Honolulu and included Ford’s new chief operating officer, Nick Scheele, Ford spokesman Jim Bright said.