BERLIN - Continental Tire North America announced Monday it was recalling 600,000 tires sold in the United States with Ford and Lincoln sport utility vehicles in an action expected to cost the company 20 million euros (dlrs 19.5 million).

The ContiTrac AW and General Grabber AW tires sold as original equipment with 2000 and 2001 Ford Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators have been wearing "irregularly and are producing vibrations and noise," said Continental spokesman Andreas Meurer from the company's base in Hanover, Germany.

The company is also investigating whether an accident in the United States within the last week could have been caused by the tires, Meurer said. He said Continental has not yet been able to inspect the tires, but had no other details on the accident.

The tires are size 275/60R17 produced at the company's plant in Mayfield, Kentucky, between March 1999 and October 2000. Continental Tire North America, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, will replace the tires free of charge.

In a separate action, Continental is recalling 3,500 bus tires, size 315/80R22.5, that were also sold in the United States. The tires, produced between September 2001 and June 2002, are wearing down to quickly with heavy use, Meurer said.

Meurer said the SUV tire recall was being initiated with the support of Ford, which, in 2000, had to deal with the Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. recall of 6.5 million tires, many of which were sold with the popular Ford Explorer.