Firestone recalls more tires to settle Fed probe

Agencies, Washington/Tokyo

Firestone bowed to government pressure on Thursday by agreeing to recall an additional 3.5 million Wilderness tires, largely concluding a federal probe of defective tires linked to more than 200 deaths.

In winding up its investigation, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) dealt another blow to the tire maker by finding that Ford Motor Co.'s Explorer sport utility vehicle was no more likely to roll over after a tire separation than other SUVs.

Firestone, a unit of Japan's Bridgestone Inc., has long claimed that the problem was a tire-vehicle issue, while Ford has said tires were solely to blame.

Safety regulators have linked 203 deaths and more than 700 injuries to crashes related to Firestone tire failures. Nearly all of the accidents involved the Explorer.

"At this point, NHTSA does not agree with Firestone claim that Explorers are more prone to rollover after tread separation," a Transportation Department official said in Washington. "NHTSA found no basis for the Firestone allegations."

Separtely, in Tokyo, Bridgestone said Friday it will pay up to US$30 million to replace hundreds of thousands of tyres in the U.S. but denied Washington's claims they had safety defects.

"This is not a recall, this is a replacement programme because we have not admitted there are any defects," Bridgestone president and chief executive Shigeo Watanabe told a news conference.

Bridgestone/Firestone had supplied Ford Motor Co. Ltd. with tyres for its SUVs both sides became embroiled in a bitter dispute over who was to blame for a spate of fatal crashes.

The report by the NHTSA alleged a defect could lead to the tread separating from the tyre.

The NHTSA said the separation of the tires' tread reduced a driver's ability to control the car, especially if a rear tire failed at high speed, "and can lead to a crash".

Watanabe said there would be no healing of the rift with Ford after the release of the report.

"The issuance of this report will not mean a revival of our business relationship with Ford," Watanabe said. "It will not result in a quick turnaround in our business."