Bridgestone/Firestone, the U.S. unit, will begin supplying the tires as early as this month, the Nihon Keizai economic daily said. It did not identify its source for the report. Spokesmen at Bridgestone were unavailable for comment.
The paper said that Bridgestone/Firestone estimated it would provide about 2.5 million tires a year for 500,000 vehicles under the contract.
Bridgestone's business has been hurt by a tire recall at Bridgestone/Firestone. In the summer of 2000, the U.S. subsidiary recalled 6.5 million tires suspected of losing their tread.
In October of last year, Nashville, Tennessee-based Bridgestone/Firestone agreed to a recall of 3.5 million more tires ordered by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which had been investigating reports they suddenly lost their tread and may be linked to 271 fatalities.
The Nihon Keizai said that Bridgestone/Firestone has increased production at its Canadian factory after concluding the worst was over following the tire recall. The company had stopped seeking new business in North America after the August 2000 recall, the report said.
Bridgestone has maintained that a combination of the tires and the vehicles was behind the problem. Most of the suspect tires were on Ford Explorers.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/4/196375