Firestone Recalls Mexican Tires

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--Firestone is recalling some 8,000 tires produced during the week of April 23, 2000, at its Cuernavaca, Mexico plant. The company said it is taking the action to locate about 150 faulty tires made on April 24.

Examinations conducted on some of the April 24-produced tires found significantly lower adhesion in the belt area rubber as a result of the unintentional inclusion of a non-specified rubber material in the No.1 stabilizer belt (the steel belt closest to the inside of the tire). An assessment of a significant sample of tires manufactured during the week of April 23, and the weeks before and after, showed that the problem was confined to a small batch of tires produced in the Cuernavaca plant on April 24. The company is not aware of any claims for property damage or injury caused by the recalled tires.

The recalled P265/70R16 Wilderness LE tires are identified by DOT No. V672WL11700 (black sidewall) and DOT No. V672WL21700 (raised white letters); the serial numbers can be found on the sidewall of the tire near the wheel rim. Only the Wilderness LE tires in size P265/70R16 with these two DOT numbers are subject to the recall, and the latest problem is unrelated to last August’s recall. The recalled tires may have been used on up to 4,700 model year 2000 GMC Yukon XL 1500 series (as original equipment) and Chevrolet Suburban 1500 series (as an optional tire choice) vehicles assembled in Silao, Mexico during late April and early May 2000.

Owners of the vehicles that have the suspect tires will be contacted within a week to advise them of the recall. In the meantime, owners of the affected Yukon XLs and Suburbans can perform a simple process to find out if their vehicles may have been fitted with the recalled tires (including the spare tire). Owners may check the first line of the placard on the driver’s side door to see if the vehicle was manufactured by General Motors de Mexico in April or May. If the Yukon XL or Suburban was not built by GM de Mexico during one of those months, the vehicle would not have had the recalled tires fitted at the plant. Firestone’s recall hotline at 800/465-1904.

“As soon as we became aware of the deficiency in a small quantity of these tires, we took immediate action. We found the problem is limited to an extremely small number of tires, approximately 150, produced on a single day, but we are recalling the entire week to help ensure that all these tires are off the road,” said John Lampe, president, chairman and chief executive officer. “We committed to our customers that we would change the way we review our collected data and respond to product concerns--an enhanced early warning system--to facilitate quick detection of anomalies and establish a quick response system. That system is working,” he said.

“As we’ve said, we will work to regain the public’s trust in the Firestone tire brand, and a recall--no matter how small--impacts that effort. But, an important part of rebuilding that trust is proving to the public our commitment to quickly identify problems, communicate that information fully and promptly, and take the necessary actions to resolve the problems. And that’s what we’ve done here,” said Lampe. “We take full responsibility for each and every tire we make, and we are committed to getting any tire with a problem off the road and replaced quickly. We have also taken corrective action at the Cuernavaca plant to make sure that this type of error will not occur again.”

Replacement tires are immediately available and the company urges customers to have the tires replaced free of charge as soon as possible. Recalled tires can be replaced at no cost to the customer at their local GMC or Chevrolet dealer or by visiting their local authorized participating Firestone retailer. To find the nearest GMC or Chevrolet dealer, customers should call the GM tire safety hotline at 866/522-0505, the Chevrolet hotline at 800/222-1020 or the GMC hotline at 800/462-8782.

In a related action, Firestone also today announced that it will be conducting a campaign in Mexico to locate about 500 of the recalled P265/70R16 Wilderness LE tires, which may have been sold the Mexican replacement tire market. While there is no evidence that any tires exhibiting the deficiency are in the Mexican market, according to Lampe, the company is instituting an action to retrieve all P265/70R16 tires with the same DOT numbers as those recalled in the United States “in the interest of driver safety and an abundance of caution.” None of these tires in the Mexican market is linked to any personal injury or property damage claims, nor has the company received reports of any related warranty adjustments, Lampe said.