Firestone Tire Issues Expanding

While the ongoing Firestone recall effort continues, the original recall of 6.5 million tires will be expanded by 1.4 million tires. The voluntary action comes on the heels of a September U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) statement suggesting that the additional tires may have tread separation rates that were higher than the Wilderness AT, ATX and ATX II lines subject to the original recall. Firestone disagrees with the NHTSA study, and initially offered free inspection and replacement of on-vehicle tire where the customer expressed concern. According to Firestone spokeswoman Christine Karbowiak, “…this action is not an expansion of the voluntary recall…the company believes that the recall population is proper.” The standard form waiver signed by customers during replacement has also been dropped under pressure from several U.S. state attorneys general. The expanded recall includes some tires from the Firehawk, ATX 23 Degree, Widetrack Radial Baja, and Wilderness HT tires. The company estimates that fewer than half of the 1.4 million tires involved are still in service. The majority of the additional 1.4 million tires were sold into the replacement market, with OEM fitments limited to 1991 Chevrolet Blazer, 1991-1994 Nissan pickups and 1996-1998 Ford F-150 pickups.

In a related story, Bridgestone Corporation president Yoichiro Kaizaki announced that the recall of the original 6.5 million tires would be completed far ahead of schedule, with over 4 million tires already replaced. Kaizaki declared that an in-house audit found no major problems with tire development or production methodologies. Bridgestone shares have dropped 60 percent in value since the recall was announced in August. An initial technical report on the tread separation issue by an independent engineering expert is expected early in the new year.