"This is a case about two companies who literally put profits over people's lives," Denove said.

If the jury renders a verdict, it would mark the first time a court in the United States has ruled on the question of whether the two companies are liable for tire-related accidents with the Explorer.

Only one such case has gone to a jury trial, and Firestone settled before a verdict was returned.

Attorneys for Ford and Firestone argued that the tire had been damaged long before the tread separated from the steel belt and that Hernandez's injuries would not prevent her from becoming a surgeon.

"The evidence is going to establish that this particular tire did not fail because of tire design....the road damage can be seen and measured," said Warren Platt, attorney for Ford, in his opening statement.

Hernandez, a student at University of Southern California, is seeking compensation for what she says is her lost medical career and punitive damages from the two companies. The trial is expected to last three months.

In his opening statement, Denove argued that Ford and Firestone, a division of Japan's Bridgestone Corp ( news - external web site). , equally share blame in the case because they jointly designed the tire for the Explorer.

He said Ford sacrificed safety in tire design by threatening to terminate its contract with Firestone if tire costs increased, while Firestone skimped on safety as a result of profitability mandates put in place by management in Japan in 1996.

LIGHTER, RUGGED-LOOKING TIRES?

Specifically, Firestone was compelled by Ford to create lighter tires that looked rugged to match the image of the Explorer, Denove said.

To accomplish this, Firestone allegedly decreased the thickness of a key rubber wedge between the steel belts in the tire and also cut the thickness of the belts themselves.

The resulting product, Denove said, did not tolerate the heat resulting from road friction, allowing air pockets to build up and causing the tire to lose its tread more easily.

Denove showed jurors correspondence between Ford and dealerships in the Middle East and Venezuela dating from mid-1997 about rollover and tread separation problems.

A 1999 Ford memo said in part: "We have so far been able to control this issue and managed not to have any kind of rumors spread around the region. Make sure that we do not alert the suspicions of the police/insurance in Oman that we might have a problem with our tires."

By late 1999, Ford's own internal analysts had compiled graphs showing that some 1,200 Firestone tire failure claims had been filed, against just two failures for a more expensive Goodyear tire, Denove said.

Federal regulators have linked defective Firestone tires to crashes that killed 271 people and injured hundreds more. Many of those tires were installed as standard equipment on Ford Explorers and the company spent millions of dollars recalling tires and replacing them.

Platt said government safety tests showed that Explorers were in some cases safer than other sport utility vehicles on the market and had better safety records than passenger cars.

He asked the jury not to punish Ford and Firestone for recalling the ATX2 tires that came standard on Hernandez's vehicle.

"It is unfair to use tire recalls to hold Ford responsible for damages on top of what it has already spent to replace the tires," Platt said.

Firestone's attorney Arnold Larson said experts would testify that Hernandez was driving at least 80 mph when the tire came apart. He also suggested that tire maintenance was lacking.