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US Ford to Recall 47,000 Explorers, SUVs Due to Tire Problems
Ford Motor Company, one of the largest auto makers in the United States, will recall about 47,000 of its 2002 model Ford Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer sport- utility vehicles due to tire problems, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
The business newspaper quoted a company official as saying that an announcement in this regard is expected to come out on Monday.
Ford also plans, possibly this week, to replace millions more Firestone tires mounted on old-model Explorers and other vehicles, the New York Times reported.
Last year, Firestone took back 6.5 million tires equipped on Explorers and other Ford trucks after tire-tread problems caused hundreds of accidents, leaving 174 deaths and 700 injuries in the United States alone.
The auto company informed federal regulators over the weekend that it planned to recall the 2002 models, all assembled at Ford's lousivill plant through April 27, because about 7 percent of them have cuts made by a metal edge in the plant's vehicle conveyor system.
The damaged tires are primarily Micheln or Goodyear Brands with four-to-eight-inch cuts about a half-inch deep in the treads, a company spokesman said.
A spokesman for Groupe Michelin said that the company is aware of Firestone applications on Ford vehicles, and "if a recall is announced we'll do all we can to help consumers who may be affected."
A Goodyear official also promised that his company can start delivering to Ford new tires "in two or three days."
The Bridgestone/Firestone company, however, has got infuriated by Ford's push for more tire recall.
John Lampe, Bridgestone/Firestone's chairman and chief executive, sent a letter on Friday to Ford Chief Executive Jacques Nasser stating that he was "outraged" by a story in Friday's New York Times that revealed Ford's plan for wider recall of Firestone tires.
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