Firestone Broadens Recall of Defective Tires
As Regulators Bring Investigation to an End

Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. agreed to replace more defective Wilderness AT tires as federal regulators closed their investigation into the issue, ending what has been a devastating chapter in the tire maker's history.

Firestone had little choice but to broaden its recall after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it found a safety defect in Wilderness tires produced at two plants before 1998. Those tires, which lacked a thicker "belt wedge" that helps prevent tread separations and is present in current tires, have been linked to 25 reported fatalities and about 50 injuries. Firestone said it produced 3.5 million of the newly recalled tires, but estimated that only about 885,000 were still on the road as of last spring.

While the recall, and more importantly the finding of a defect, is a blow to Firestone, it is less damaging than it could have been and not as far-reaching as some critics -- including Ford Motor Co. -- had hoped. Ford initiated a sweeping replacement program of its own last spring, aimed at replacing an estimated 13 million Wilderness tires on all of its vehicles. The auto maker was counting on the NHTSA to force a much broader recall of Wilderness tires so that Firestone would be obligated to cover the cost of Ford's replacement program.

John Lampe, Firestone's chairman and chief executive, said the company disagreed with the NHTSA's defect findings and that Firestone's testing supported its claim that its tires perform well. "However, we have decided that it is in the best interest of our company, our employees, our dealers and our customers if we replace the limited number of tires in question and close this chapter in the company's history," said Mr. Lampe.

Firestone lobbyists had put pressure on the U.S. government in recent weeks to close the case, noting that a lingering investigation could endanger thousands of jobs -- a critical point at a time when the economy is already limping. Some people have questioned whether Firestone, the U.S. unit of Japan's Bridgestone Corp., could survive financially in the face of mounting costs associated with replacing millions of tires and settling lawsuits. Firestone estimated this new recall will cost less than $30 million.

The NHTSA will continue to monitor Firestone tires made after 1998 on an ongoing basis, but said its investigation is closed. Although Firestone continues to face hundreds of lawsuits involving its tires, the fact that federal officials have closed the case eliminates a great uncertainty for the company that has lasted 15 months. In August 2000, Firestone recalled 6.5 million 15-inch Wilderness AT, ATX and ATXII tires that have been linked to fatal accidents on Ford Explorers equipped with Firestone tires that had failed. Ever since that time, the NHTSA and Ford have been debating whether far more tires also carried potentially deadly defects. The NHTSA said Thursday it had found 271 fatalities linked to accidents involving Firestone tires.

The latest action involves two sizes of tires produced before May 1998 and used as original equipment on 1995 through 1998 Explorers and Mercury Mountaineers, a related sport-utility vehicle. Some of the tires were sold as replacement tires for Ford, Mercury and other SUVs and as original equipment on Ford Ranger compact pickups.

Firestone has insisted the design of the Explorer contributed to the accidents and has pushed federal investigators to open a probe of the popular SUV. A Firestone spokeswoman said the company plans to continue pressing for the probe of the Explorer.

NHTSA spokesman Rae Tyson said the agency hasn't decided whether to launch a formal investigation of the Explorer. But in an announcement Thursday, the agency noted that claims and complaint data indicate that a tread separation on an Explorer "is no more likely to lead to a crash than on other SUVs." The agency also encouraged owners of Ford vehicles with tires built after 1998 to still get them replaced under Ford's initiative.

Ford said it didn't consider Firestone's agreement with the NHTSA a setback, even though it involved only part of the 13 million Wilderness tires included in its own replacement program. Jason Vines, a Ford spokesman, noted that the NHTSA had said it would continue monitoring the other tires and that the auto maker's own research had shown it was too early to tell what would happen with newer tires. Mr. Vines added that Ford has replaced "over half of the 13 million tires" and has sufficient supply of tires to replace the rest.

The settlement followed weeks of negotiations between the tire maker's representatives and officials at the Department of Transportation. One person familiar with Firestone's lobbying approach said the company had warned White House officials in recent weeks about the impact that a recall order could have on the company's future, particularly in an already weakened economy. Firestone "very aggressively pushed the fact that 40,000 jobs were at stake," he said.