Cooper Announces US Recall

Cooper Tire & Rubber has issued a tyre recall in the US for 20 product lines manufactured at the company’s factory in Georgia, including the Discoverer, Wildcat and Wild Country ranges. The voluntary recall, instigated on March 14, has been put in place to address sidewall separation issues and covers a total of 48,037 tyres.

This is Cooper’s second recall in the US within a 12 month period; in July 2007 the company recalled 91,747 Dominator Sport A/T tyres as a result of allegations of tyre failure. Analysis and testing carried out by Cooper found “no manufacturing or design defect” in the tyres, however the company still chose to issue a voluntary recall.

The cost of the recall will be included in results for the first quarter of 2008, and the company states it will not have an effect on quarterly earnings. Cooper wrote in its filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety administration that it would pay dealers US$17.50 per tyre for mounting and balancing, an overall expense of just over $840,000.