Law and Rights
Tough times at Ford aren't quite as tough as you may think, and factory recalls don't always cost as much as they say either.
Bridgestone-Firestone has agreed to pay $240,000,000 (that's right, nearly a quarter of a Billion dollars) to Ford in order to settle liability claims by Ford over the recall of defective tires in year 2000 and 2001 that were linked to deadly highway accidents.
'The Bridgestone group benefits from the certainty that a settlement brings,' said Shoshi Arakawa, executive vice president, international operations of Bridgestone Corp. 'It is clear that the best option for the future of the North American tire business was to explore whether an acceptable settlement could be reached which would allow Firestone to put this matter behind it and focus on its future business opportunities. This settlement achieves that goal.' That's some pretty nicely worded spin language.
Ford replaced about 30 million Firestone tires in 2000 and 2001 after US federal safety regulators documented hundreds of accidents involving tire tread seperation in accidents involving Ford's SUV Explorer sport utility vehicle. An official investigation linked 271 fatalities and 800 accidents to events in which Explorers tipped over after parts of their Firestone tires peeled off at high speeds. Ford and Bridgestone blamed each other for the accidents, but US investigators concluded the accidents were mainly the result of flaws in the tires.
Ford paid money out when it did the recall, sure, but let's not forget that they got money back, too.
Recalls don't really cost as much as some manufacturers claim because they often can recover that money from the supplier who sold them the bad parts in the first place. That's only fair. It's also only fair that Ford live up to its first and primary responsibility to the consumer in the first place, without denying a claim by trying to blame someone else for the cars that it builds.
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Law and Rights
Ford Makes Money from Tire Recalls
Tough times at Ford aren't quite as tough as you may think, and factory recalls don't always cost as much as they say either.
Bridgestone-Firestone has agreed to pay $240,000,000 (that's right, nearly a quarter of a Billion dollars) to Ford in order to settle liability claims by Ford over the recall of defective tires in year 2000 and 2001 that were linked to deadly highway accidents.
'The Bridgestone group benefits from the certainty that a settlement brings,' said Shoshi Arakawa, executive vice president, international operations of Bridgestone Corp. 'It is clear that the best option for the future of the North American tire business was to explore whether an acceptable settlement could be reached which would allow Firestone to put this matter behind it and focus on its future business opportunities. This settlement achieves that goal.' That's some pretty nicely worded spin language.
Ford replaced about 30 million Firestone tires in 2000 and 2001 after US federal safety regulators documented hundreds of accidents involving tire tread seperation in accidents involving Ford's SUV Explorer sport utility vehicle. An official investigation linked 271 fatalities and 800 accidents to events in which Explorers tipped over after parts of their Firestone tires peeled off at high speeds. Ford and Bridgestone blamed each other for the accidents, but US investigators concluded the accidents were mainly the result of flaws in the tires.
Ford paid money out when it did the recall, sure, but let's not forget that they got money back, too.
Recalls don't really cost as much as some manufacturers claim because they often can recover that money from the supplier who sold them the bad parts in the first place. That's only fair. It's also only fair that Ford live up to its first and primary responsibility to the consumer in the first place, without denying a claim by trying to blame someone else for the cars that it builds.
Subscribe in a reader- Recalls Drop
It's about time the quality came back. Maybe it has. At least for some. Vehicle recalls totalled 10.2 million last year, a 30% drop from 2007 and the lowest number of vehicles recalled since 1994, reported the Detroit News after examining the government's...
- Secret Early Warning Data Now Public
After years of secrecy that was endorsed by the current administration in Washington DC, followed by lawsuits and Freedom of Information Act requests that wouldn't go away, federal safety investigators finally opened up their secret Early Warning...
- Ford F150 Being Investigated
Federal safety investigators are checking out the '05 Ford F150 pickup truck because of consumer complaints of brake failure. The problem appears to be with the 5.4 liter V8 engine package for some reason, reports the National Highway Traffic Safety...
- Big 3 Fight For 4
Toyota USA sold more than Ford did last year, bumping Ford Motor Co. down to the No. 3 spot. Last year Toyota sold 2.62 million cars and trucks last year while Ford sold 2.56 million, according to Automotive News Data Center statistics. General Motors...
- Recall Parts Shortage At Ford
Apparently ?parts is parts? ain?t necessarily so. At least not at Ford. Ford has admitted that it does not have enough repair parts on hand to fix all the 1.25 million passenger cars it recalled for a deadly cruise control switch fire hazard. Worse yet,...