Recall Plan Submitted, NHTSA Reviewing It

(Akron/Tire Review) Even as Chinese tyremaker Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Co. continues to deny any wrong-doing, importer Foreign Tire Sales has reportedly submitted to NHTSA a plan for the recall of as many as 450,000 allegedly defective tyres. News reports say that FTS is setting up procedures to recall and replace the subject tyres – sold under the Westlake, Telluride, Compass and YKS brand names. NHTSA must approve the plan, and there remains some questions about FTS’ financial ability to conduct the recall.

Earlier, FTS said recalling all 450,000 tyres in question would force the company into bankruptcy. NHTSA has no provision to facilitate a complete recall should that happen, and reports state that Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Co. refuses to provide financial assistance. Last week, news reports said FTS suggested it may only be able to afford recalling perhaps 10 per cent of the subject tyres.

According to federal law and TREAD Act-born regulations, as the importer of record, FTS is the responsible party in the event of a tyre recall, even though it did not produce the subject tyres. In addition to the potential cost of the recall itself, FTS may face penalties of up to $6,000 per “violation” – a maximum of some $16.4 million – if it fails to recall the subject tyres.

FTS said it stopped selling the subject tyres in 2006 after it, it claimed, discovered the Chinese manufacturer had reduced or eliminated a gum strip designed to maintain adhesion between the belt package and tread. The tyremaker, though, denies it changed the construction of the tyres, saying the accusation was “concocted out of thin air.”

“The structure of a tyre can’t be decided by an individual,” said a spokesman for Hangzhou Zhongce. “Any change in the structure requires technical assistance.” FTS said it began selling the subject tyres in 2002. Alleged problems with the subject tyres same to light after a lawsuit was filed in Pennsylvania this past May claiming failure of one of the tyres caused an August 2006 crash that killed two men and injured another.

In a published statement, FTS said it “will make every effort to locate, identify and replace all of the affected tyres it imported into the U.S. FTS has gone the extra mile in its testing and subsequent early notification of a possible problem.”

In other news related to this recall, the Connecticut attorney general released the names of some 80 tyre retailers it claims have sold the subject tyres. However, many of those retailers claim no knowledge of having bough the tyres or of making purchases from FTS.