Another Recall For Firestone

Firestone is voluntarily recalling 98,500 of its Firehawk GTA-02 tyres, size P205/55 R16. The tyres were mostly fitted on Nissan Altima sedans as OE, with the vast majority sold in the USA and around 1,300 in Canada. The problem is an over-wide steel belt which, it is feared, could lead to cracking on the shoulder after prolonged use.

The design has since been modified. The recall is purely a precautionary measure – Nissan says that it has not received any complaints about the tyres and both companies emphasise that there have been no tread separations, no accidents or injuries and no claims associated with the tyres. Bridgestone/Firestone is offering free replacement of the tyres affected.

This is the third recall for Firestone in a few months – first there was the well-publicised 6.5 million recall of SUV tyres and, earlier this year, 8,000 truck tyres were recalled. The timing of this latest news is unfortunate, with parent company Bridgestone due to release details of its 2000 financial performance in Tokyo.

Bridgestone’s shares halved in value following the first recall and it is widely expected that the group will announce its worst financial performance for many years, for which the larger tyre recall is almost entirely responsible, and provision will be made for a special charge to cover the costs; a charge which some analysts estimate could be as much as $750 million. The company has said that the financial effects of the latest recall would be “marginal”..