Michael Hottner (38) will become the key account manager at the tyre manufacturer’s headquarters in Clermont-Ferrand for Michelin customers Ford of Europe and the Viborg group. Hottner was responsible for two-wheeler business for seven years at Michelin Germany
Ford has announced that tyre pressure sensors, which alert the driver when a tyre loses pressure, will be fitted as standard on its 2002 Explorer SUV and on other models from 2005. The company says that fitting the sensors is merely one element of a series of improvements and safety features on the vehicle.
First came the second tyre recall with costs up to 3 bn $-US, secondly the “extended guarantee” due to problems with ignition systems, and thirdly many quality-related recalls of new car models, all of which have cost Ford a lot of its expected profit. Therefore the management has announced early retirement for up to 5000 white collar workers in the US. This is seen as the first step in a major restructuring in North America, where Ford has announced about 13 p.c. fewer new registrations compared with the same time last year, whereas the market in general shows only about 5p.c. fewer registrations of new cars. Analysts from Wall Street have already greeted Ford’s latest decision positively.
Finger pointing between Ford and Bridgestone/Firestone is continuing and has reached the point where the tyre manufacturer has terminated its business relationship with Ford after 100 years. In a written statement, BF-boss Lampe said “we believe that the auto maker is attempting to divert scrutiny of the vehicles by casting doubt on the quality of Firestone tyres. The tyres are safe and as we have said before, when we have a problem we will acknowledge that problem and fix it. We expect you (Ford) to do the same.” The assumption that Ford’s Explorer is a problem-car seems to be based also on the fact that Ford felt forced last week to recall more than 50,000 Ford-Explorers equipped with Michelin and Goodyear-tyres, avoiding the word recall but calling it a “Customer Satisfaction Program.” While the business with Ford accounts for only five per cent of BF’s total turnover, virtually everything depends on the success of the Explorer for Ford; the company’s best selling car for years and its cash cow.
Bridgestone/Firestone is offering to replace, free of charge, a small number of tyres fitted to European Ford Explorers even though there have been no tyre related roll-overs in Europe. The tyres are P235/75R15 and P255/70R16 Wilderness AT with DOT numbers ending in 4, 5, 6, or 7. Additionally, these tyres with the last three digits of the DOT number from 108 through to 188 are also included.
In the US, a federal judge turned down lawyers’ requests to order a recall of Ford Explorers and Firestone tyres. The judge ruled that only the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has the authority to order such a recall. Bridgestone/Firestone has already indicated that it would fight any such order from the NHTSA in the courts. In a rare moment of unanimity, both Ford and BF Inc. welcomed the judge’s decision.
The erstwhile Tyre manufacturer, now aerospace supplier, BF Goodrich has teamed up with Ford to develop a SmartBelt seatbelt. This is a combination of the traditional seatbelt and the airbag, which inflates to protect vehicle occupants in the event of a collision. BF Goodrich sold its tyre operations to Michelin in 1990 and the brand is still manufactured and marketed as BF Goodrich by Michelin.
The latest comparative study of the European Commission regarding car prices, shows that 46 of a total of 81 passenger car models cost over 20 percent more in Germany than in at least one of the other Euro-zone markets. Companies such as PSA, Fiat, VW, Ford, Opel and some Japanese manufacturers follow a high-price strategy in Germany. The cheapest prices for new cars to be found in the Netherlands, Finland, Spain and Denmark, which does not even belong to the Euro zone.
John Lampe has spent all his working life with Firestone and then Bridgestone/Firestone. He has recently been put in charge of the Bridgestone group’s largest subsidiary, Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. in the USA. In addition – and this is a first for Bridgestone and very rare for large Japanese businesses – Lampe sits on the board. This illustrates how highly he is thought of in what are difficult times for the company. In our exclusive interview, he talks of the relationship between Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. and Ford. However, since the interview, this attitude changed dramatically, with Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. ending its business relationship with Ford. Our follow-up article after the Lampe interview traces this change in attitude and the increasingly-bitter war of words as the companies try to pin the blame on each other.
Continental AG has responded to Ford’s removal of the General Ameri* 550 from its Firestone replacement programme by stating that it will have a negligible effect on sales performance. The company has produced some two million of the tyres and the investigation only affects 4,300 fitted to Ford Explorers. Continental is confident in the quality of the tyre and does not expect any further ramifications. However, other commentators suggest that the incident will have an overall negative effect on the company image, damaging the repositioning of the Conti General brand.
Pit Stop, the fast-fit group belonging to Kwik-Fit (and thus, ultimately, Ford) is pushing ahead with plans to open up to 400 centres in Germany within the next two years. Pit Stop focuses on exhausts, brakes, shock absorbers, etc., as well as selling tyres.
Ford has agreed to settle lawsuits alleging that faulty ignition switches cause vehicles to stall without warning while in use. The problem is said to affect millions of vehicles manufactured between 1983 and 1995. Press and analyst figures vary from 5 to 22 million vehicles. Some months ago, a Californian judge ordered a recall of up to 1.7 million vehicles in the state because of the problem. Ford denies any defect but has already settled a number of cases and the latest offer of settlement will mean replacing ignition switches on vehicles which have travelled less than 160,000 kilometres. The proposal will be reviewed by the judge and, if approved, analysts estimate that the cost to Ford could be up to $1 bn; a figure which Ford says is “substantially overstated.” Among the models affected are the Escort, Explorer and Taurus.
According to an article in the Washington Post, the tyre General Ameri 550 s will be subject to more claims due to tread separations than Firestone. As well as General, some other brands are under the microscope on the NHTSA-list, and their identity has not yet been revealed. It is expected that further explanations will be issued this week. A spokesman for Continental denied the accusation and said the NHTSA statement would be misleading. Ford did not comment.
As US automotive sales figures revealed that the US domestic product was facing a massive slump in sales compared to almost universal increases by imported marques, sales of the Ford explorer held up against the national trend with sales rising 3.8% on the 1999 figure, despite the bad publicity onslaught from the Firestone recall.
Ford has reacted quickly to the NHTSA defect investigation into the General Ameri* 550 by dropping the brand from its replacement campaign. The General Ameri*550 was one of the brands being used to replace the recalled Firestone Wilderness ATs which have been deemed unsafe by Ford. However, Ford stated that the tyre was “performing well” on the F-series pick up, where it is fitted as original equipment.
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