Firestone Ends Relationship With Ford
May 23, 2001
After 100 years of supplying Ford Motor Company with tires, Bridgestone/Firestone's CEO announced that the company is terminating its relationship with Ford. This action comes in the aftermath of last year's recall involving 6,000,000 Firestone tires and the announcement that Ford is recalling 47,000 of its 2002 Explorer model SUVs.
Bridgestone/Firestone cited a lack of trust between the companies as justification for its action. John Lampe, Bridgestone/Firestone's Chief Executive Officer and President, reported that his company told Ford several times about its concerns with the Explorer's design, yet Ford did nothing.
Lampe acknowledged that, in the midst of the recall crisis last year, he felt Ford was unfairly shifting blame to Firestone to cover up the dangers of its own Explorer product. Firestone is standing by the safety of its tires and feels it was unfairly targeted when tire-tread failures resulted in 174 deaths and hundreds of injuries. Firestone claims that these failures were caused by several factors including the weight of the Ford Explorer SUV, its high center of gravity, and weight distribution.
Once Bridgestone/Firestone fulfills its obligations under existing contracts with Ford in the Americas, it will not enter into any new agreements with the company.
-- Article Courtesy of InjuryBoard.com
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