Ford announces Japanese Wilderness recall

By Miles Moore, Washington reporter©

TOKYO (June 7, 2001)—Some 14,000 Ford Explorers sold in Japan will have their Firestone Wilderness AT tires replaced, according to Ford Motor Co.

Ford announced a worldwide recall of 13 million Firestone Wilderness tires May 22, and earlier announced that the tires on approximately 23,000 Ford vehicles in Europe—mostly Explorers—would also be subject to the recall.

Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. has held all along that the tires Ford is recalling are safe, and that the auto maker’s action is unnecessary.