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Agreement Between Ford/Goodyear To Speed Tires to Consumers

Ford and Goodyear made arrangements to allow Ford customers to obtain Ford-approved replacements for Firestone Wilderness AT tires at no charge to the customer. In addition, the tire manufacturer is making arrangements to ensure adequate availability of Goodyear tires at Ford and Mercury dealerships through its own network of independent tire dealers and Goodyear company-owned stores. Goodyear has increased tire production significantly at seven North American manufacturing plants to make tires available for use in the replacement program.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

OE Success For Hankook

Ford has chosen Hankook as the single supplier of tyres for the F-150 pick-up in the USA. The tyre sizes are 235/70R17 and 235/75R17. The first shipments will start in a few months and expected volume is to be around 600,000 tyres. Hankook is also hoping to win an OE order from Volkswagen: The possible tyre size could be 205/45R16 to be offered as an option by Volkswagen.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Questions Raised Over Explorer Ad Campaign

Under pressure in Venezuela, Ford has produced an advertisement listing statistics that show that the Explorer compares favourably in safety terms with other SUVs. Although no competitive vehicles are mentioned by name in the advert, both Daimler/Chrysler and GM (Venezuela) have objected to it and are casting doubts on the accuracy of the figures.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

OE Success For Hankook

Korean tyre manufacturer Hankook has received an order from Volvo to supply the spare tyre (size T 125/80 R17) for the models V70, S60 and S80, from 1st July this year. It is said that Michelin, who produced these tyres up till now, has delivery problems due to a reduction of production in Great Britain. The order from Volvo is worth around 5 million Euros and for Hankook, it is another foot in the Ford door after the company won its first OE order from Ford last year.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Tyre Safety To Be Checked By Ford

Recent reports questioning the reliability of some of the tyres being used by Ford to replace Firestones are doubtless partly responsible for the car manufacturer’s plans to conduct a series of tests on replacement tyres. Ford’s team of around 100 engineers will carry out a number of tests, including measuring wedge thickness, temperature monitoring and how much force it takes to cause a tread separation. Other checks on the relationships between load/speed/temperature will be carried out in conjunction with tyre manufacturers as well as in-house.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Wheel Supplier Superior Hit by Ford Production Cuts

The cut in production of 60,000 units Explorer and Ranger models by Ford in the second and third quarter could cost aluminium wheel maker Superior $2.5 million in revenue.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Request To Postpone Crash Testing From Ford

Ford has asked the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety to postpone crash testing of the 2002 Explorer to allow the manufacturer to make structural changes to the vehicle. Ford is making the changes after two of its trucks received “poor” or “marginal” ratings in crash testing.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Congress Appearance For Ford And Firestone

Ford’s Jacques Nasser and BF Inc’s CEO John Lampe are due to face questions from a Congressional committee regarding the spate of rollover accidents involving Ford Explorers fitted with Firestone tyres. This comes as the death toll in such accidents rises to 203 and lawyers in Florida, representing a family who had two members killed and three others injured in an accident, are seeking $1 billion damages from Bridgestone/Firestone Inc.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Temporary Closure Of Seven Vehicle Plants In North America

In an attempt to reduce vehicle stocks, Ford and General Motors have announced the temporary closure of seven factories in North America. GM is to close five plants (sited in Oklahoma City, Ontario, Michigan and Ohio) for a week, affecting over 14,000 workers. The two plants which Ford is to close temporarily manufacture vans and are situated in Ohio, employing 4,150 hourly workers.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Firestone Settles Another Case In Texas

Bridgestone Firestone USA has paid an undisclosed amount of money to relatives of a woman who died after an Explorer rollover in which her son was also injured. It will be interesting to see what Ford will do. Two weeks ago it was the other way around when Ford settled a case first and Firestone agreed later to pay US$7.5 million.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Fallout From Firestone Ford Impacts Industry

Ford’s Just In Time supply chain is expected to feel the effects of Ford’s cutback in production as the company replaces potentially dangerous Firestone tyres. The idling of three production lines will cut production by 24,000 vehicles, with a further cut to follow. Suppliers such as Lear Corp, Dana and Borg Warner are amongst those announcing reductions in forecasts due the knock-on effect of the Ford stoppages. Earnings forecasts are being affected by as much as 15 per cent according to some analysts.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

BioTRED For Ford Fiesta

Goodyear’s BioTRED tyre which uses corn starch filler instead of carbon black or silica, is to be offered as an OE fitting on the Ford Fiesta. The BioTRED tyre is manufactured at seven European locations and is the first tyre to be manufactured with a renewable sourced filler.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Are SUVs Safe Enough?

For month there has been bad publicity for the Ford Explorer because of spectacular rollovers. Now the US-Association NHTSA has asked DaimlerChrysler to supply information regarding the Grand Cherokee Jeep, built between 1995 and 1999. The NHTSA knows of more than 100 accidents, with injuries and one reported death. It is said that the automatic gears are not working properly. Quality problems of this sort have already led to the result that European and Japanese manufacturers of SUVs have significantly increased market share during the first half this year.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Downturn In Car Market Hits Ford Europe

Ford’s European operation lost $35 million in 2000, compared with a $10 million operating profit in 1999, after a $1 billion restructuring charge partly related to the closure of car making facilities at Dagenham U.K. Henry Wallace, Ford’s new world-wide chief financial officer, said he was targeting a 1% return on sales in Europe and hoped to bring the Company’s European arm into profit this year.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Additional Orders From Ford For Continental

Continental has announced that it has received an additional order from Ford for over 2 million car tyres. Whether or not this is at the expense of Firestone is unclear. Continental now claims to be one of the biggest tyre suppliers for Ford in Europe, if not the biggest. In the US the tyre manufacturer is in dire straits. The Continental General tyre company is facing a loss in the US this year of up to 100 million Euro despite the fact that Continental also took advantage of the Firestone recall on the US replacement market. It is expected that Continental General will make another loss next year of up to 50 million Euro. The company also announced a restructuring program for the North American tyre market, aimed at saving costs of 90 million Dollars within 3 years. Presently Ford is not accepting General tyres as OE in the USA after the NHTSA said that the claim rate of the General Ameri 550 S is much higher than the Firestone tyre, which it replaces.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors