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| ROAD TROUBLES | |
 August 29, 2000 
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GWEN IFILL: Terrence Smith begins our look at the controversial tire recall. TERENCE SMITH: The recall of six and a half million Firestone tires began three weeks ago. It followed a series of accidents, such as this one in South Florida, just days before. Members of the Smithwick family were injured when their Ford Explorer flipped; they were later released from the hospital. BRIGITTE SMITHWICK: (August 9) The back tire blew out, and all I can remember is flipping and flipping. TERENCE SMITH: The recalled tires have been implicated in 62 deaths since February. They have a high rate of what's known as tread separation. That tends to occur in under- inflated tires at high speeds in hot weather. Government investigators are looking into the causes, which may include manufacturing problems and design flaws. They're also looking into when the tire maker knew it had a problem. The models being recalled are certain versions of the 15-inch ATX, ATX II, and Wilderness AT. Many of those are standard issue on the Ford Explorer, America's most popular sport utility vehicle. The recalled Firestones are also found on Ford Rangers and F-150 pickups, Mercury Mountaineers, as well as Mazda Navajos and B-series pickup trucks. GARY CRIGGER, Vice President, Firestone: We are not limiting this recall. No matter how old the tires, or how many miles they have on them, we will replace the P23575R15 with new tires at no charge. TERENCE SMITH: The maker of the tires-- Bridgestone/Firestone-- is providing replacements for free. In addition, it's giving customers who replace Firestones with other brands reimbursement of up to $100 a tire. Denver resident John McCulloch opted to replace his Firestones at Discount Tires. JOHN McCULLOUGH: I was at Firestone this morning and Ford already, and neither of them could get me tires. They put me on waiting lists, so I called over here and they had them in stock and I'm going to have them in an hour. TERENCE SMITH: Store employee Doug Schlagel says SUV drivers are coming in in droves, replacing a variety of Firestones, not just the ones being recalled. DOUG SCHLAGEL: There are a lot of SUV owners that are pulling off merchandise that haven't been recalled. They just feel more secure by replacing the Firestone product with something else. TERENCE SMITH: Ford officials are also analyzing the tread problems, which they say are very rare. TOM BAUGHMAN, Senior Engineer, Ford: Clearly anybody can tell the difference from a tire which has catastrophically separated from the rest of the carcass and whether or not it's had a sidewall blowout or other kind of things. This is a day and night difference. HELEN PETRAUSKAS, Vice President, Ford: There is absolutely no question in my mind that what we're seeing with tread separation is in no way related to performance of the Explorer, and my evidence for that is the superb performance of the Explorer when it's equipped with Goodyear tires. TERENCE SMITH: To get the word out, both Ford and Firestone have purchased full-page newspaper ads and television commercials. JACQUES NASSER, President & CEO, Ford: (Ford Commercial) To date, over one million tires have been replaced. And that's good progress, but it's not good enough. We now have commitments from other tire manufacturers, including Goodyear, Michelin and Continental, to double their capacity and help make replacement tires available sooner. SPOKESMAN: We are maximizing production, airlifting tires from Japan, and working with other tire makers to increase total production. TERENCE SMITH: The recall itself is estimated to cost $350 million. But the bad news for the tire maker doesn't end there. More than 50 wrongful death and personal injury lawsuits have been filed against the company; safety groups want to expand the recall to include all sizes of the recalled models, and today there were new questions about whether Firestone tires made in Venezuela failed to meet safety specifications requested by Ford. Congress is looking into the matter, too. Last week, investigators from a House oversight panel questioned Ford executives in Dearborn, Michigan. Yesterday, the investigators were in Nashville, visiting Bridgestone/Firestone. SPOKESPERSON: Last Friday, committee investigators went to Ford's headquarters in Michigan to interview Ford officials and obtain certain documents, which we did. We're here today at Firestone's American headquarters in Nashville to do the same thing. TERENCE SMITH: Congressional hearings are scheduled to begin next Wednesday. GWEN IFILL: Joining me now is a representative from Bridgestone/Firestone, Christine Karbowiak, vice president of public affairs. The Ford Motor Company declined our invitation to participate. Ms. Karbowiak, could you...let's start by talking about Venezuela, because today, there is some question about what is good or what is bad about the Firestone tires that were produced there. Can you tell us about the extent of the problem? CHRISTINE KARBOWIAK: Well, I'm not the expert on Venezuela, but what I can tell you is that our documentation indicates that the tires that were produced and delivered to Ford in Venezuela fully met their specs. GWEN IFILL: And as you know, today Ford said exactly the opposite, that half of the tires did not meet the specs. CHRISTINE KARBOWIAK: I'm aware of that, but I must refer again to our documentation, which shows that the tires that were delivered did meet their specification. GWEN IFILL: Something for you and Ford and Firestone to work out among yourselves, no doubt. What... how long ago... let's go back to the beginning of this. How long ago did you know about the problems of these tires? CHRISTINE KARBOWIAK: Well, we continually monitor the performance of all of our tire lines, and over the last several months, it became apparent that there was action that needed to be taken, and we moved very quickly, very swiftly to take this voluntary safety recall action. It was an extraordinary effort. We did not wait for NHTSA to act. The preliminary evaluation is still ongoing, but we acted quickly in order to make sure that our customers have confidence in our tires and that their safety is paramount to us. GWEN IFILL: When you say "NHTSA," you mean the government safety board which oversees this? CHRISTINE KARBOWIAK: That's correct. NHTSA. GWEN IFILL: So when did you know about these mistakes - at first - these problems? CHRISTINE KARBOWIAK: As I said, we continually monitor the performance of all our tire lines. Over the last several months, including the opening of the preliminary evaluation by NHTSA, the U.S. Government agency, it became apparent that we needed to take action very quickly. These tires were over- represented in terms of claims. So we moved quickly, swiftly to take this voluntary recall action. GWEN IFILL: So now it's been three weeks since the recall took effect. Are you any closer to understanding what caused this tread separation to happen in these tires? CHRISTINE KARBOWIAK: We are evaluating all the tires that we are bringing back from the field. We are working very closely with Ford. We are also working with our own international team of experts on this. As late as last week, we announced that we would like to work with independent experts in manufacturing, in the tire industry and academia to assist us in determining the cause or causes that resulted in these tire failures. GWEN IFILL: Is the problem, as far as you can tell so far, in the tire manufacturer, is the problem in the vehicle it's attached to? CHRISTINE KARBOWIAK: We haven't determined the root cause or causes as of this time. We are continuing our investigation. We're working very intensively twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week to come up with the answer for this dilemma. GWEN IFILL: How about the question of whether consumers have been under-inflating these tires at the recommendation of the Ford Motor Company? CHRISTINE KARBOWIAK: Well, we understand that Ford has cleared a range of 26 to 30 PSI for the proper inflation of the tires on their Explorer. We, as the tire manufacturer, are recommending the 30 PSI Range, but 26 is within the range of approved inflation. GWEN IFILL: Is there any way of knowing... is this your problem and Ford's problem? Is this a problem that you have to undertake by looking more closely at your manufacturing, whether it's... especially since so many of these tires seem to have come from one plant in Dearborn, Michigan? CHRISTINE KARBOWIAK: We are working very, very, very hard to determine the root cause or causes. We are looking at every aspect of this problem. We have not yet determined what the root cause is. We have focused some of our... much of our investigation on the Decatur plant. As you know, one of the tires that was recalled, the Wilderness AT in the P-23575R size, only these tires are manufactured at our Decatur, Illinois, facility have been recalled. We're looking at absolutely every aspect of this problem. GWEN IFILL: That's Decatur, Illinois, not Decatur, Michigan. So for so many folks taking these cars... as you saw in our taped piece earlier, people are taking their Ford Explorers in, trying to get their tires replaced, and it's taking a tremendously long time. Why is it taking so long? CHRISTINE KARBOWIAK: Well, the tires that are the subject of this recall are very specific sizes. It's one size. And we are obviously increasing our manufacturing capabilities. We have contacted our competitors to assist in increasing their capacity to manufacture tires, but there is a limited tire supply. We are doing everything we can-- including airlifting tires from Japan on a daily basis-- to increase the supply that's available in the U.S. so that we can quickly affect this recall. GWEN IFILL: You're probably aware that many safety groups are asking for the recall to be expanded beyond the 6.5 million tires, which have now been recalled. Is that something which is likely? CHRISTINE KARBOWIAK: We don't have any information that would indicate at this point that a wider recall is warranted. Obviously we are continuing to work with the NHTSA, but we believe that the recall as structured is proper. GWEN IFILL: This is not the first time that Firestone has been involved in a recall of its tires, even though it's been many years and it was not as big as this one. Are you concerned at all that the Firestone brand name is going to be harmed in all of this? CHRISTINE KARBOWIAK: Well, the Firestone brand is a 100-year-old brand. It is a strong, American name. And we are going to work very hard to make sure that that brand survives this. GWEN IFILL: Next week you or some representatives from your company will be in Washington to meet and be interviewed at a hearing, I guess, by some members of Congress. What will you be prepared to tell congressional investigators? CHRISTINE KARBOWIAK: Well, we're going to obviously cooperate fully with the committees and with the Congress people who are involved. It is our goal to provide them with as much information as they feel they need so that they can come to a determination. GWEN IFILL: And do you expect you'll have to take action based on whatever it is that Congress finds? CHRISTINE KARBOWIAK: We will work very closely with Congress. We'll work very closely with the NHTSA. Our goal is to get as much information to these organizations as quickly as possible so they can come to their own determination. GWEN IFILL: Christine Karbowiak, thank you very much for joining us. CHRISTINE KARBOWIAK: Thank you. |
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