Major Business News
A Letter from Ford CEO Nasser To Bridgestone-Firestone CEO Lampe
This is the full text of a letter that Jacques Nasser, chief
executive of Ford Motor Co., wrote to John Lampe,
Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. chief executive, president and
chairman, on Tuesday (Letter provided by The Associated
Press):
Dear Mr. Lampe:
As you know, Ford has for many months been engaged in an
intensive effort to determine the root cause of the tire
failures that led to last summer's Firestone tire recall, and to
prevent such failures in the future. Throughout this process,
Ford has shared its findings and worked closely and
cooperatively with NHTSA and with Firestone's technical
team.
Based on our work to date, we are concerned that the
performance of certain Wilderness AT tires not included in
last summer's recall is not at a level consistent with the
performance of similar usage tires from competitive
manufacturers. This concern rests significantly on data
supplied by Firestone and NHTSA, which shows that failure
rates for many of the Wilderness AT tires are already worse
than competitive standards and may deteriorate further in
the future.
Our own laboratory and vehicle tests confirm these results.
Although we have discussed our concerns with Firestone
technical and management personnel, nothing we have
learned has changed our view that the tires may present a
risk to our customers' safety.
Accordingly, we intend to announce an owner notification
program to replace all Wilderness AT tires for our customers
at no cost to them. This action is preventive in nature since
we believe the significant risks are largely in the future.
However, the data leave us convinced that this action is
necessary to assure the safety of our customers, an objective
that I know you fully share.
As the replacement effort goes forward, let us work
cooperatively to serve our customers and, most importantly,
keep their safety as our highest priority. I hope this is a goal
on which you can agree.