THE FOLLOWING IS GENERAL MOTORS’ STATEMENT REGARDING THE RECALL OF A SMALL NUMBER OF FIRESTONE WILDERNESS LE TIRES THAT WERE EQUIPPED ON SOME 2000 MODEL YEAR GM FULL SIZE SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES. PLEASE ATTRIBUTE IT TO BROOK LINDBERT, DIRECTOR, TIRE-WHEEL SYSTEMS.

General Motors has been advised by Firestone that a defect exists in about 150 Wilderness LE tires that were supplied to our Silao, Mexico assembly plant for use on Chevrolet Suburban 1500 series and GMC Yukon XL 1500 series sport utility vehicles. There are two very important facts that we want our customers to know:

• No accidents, injuries or fatalities have been reported involving vehicles equipped with these tires.
  
  
• The vast majority of our Suburban and Yukon LX customers are not involved in this action.

In order to assure recovery of the defective tires, Firestone will recall one week’s worth of production of the affected tire at its Cuernavaca, Mexico plant. That means that less than 5,000 of our customers will be asked to bring their vehicles to their Chevrolet, GMC or Firestone dealer for an inspection, and if needed, the replacement of the tires.

While we regret the inconvenience this will cause, we fully support Firestone’s decision to take this action. Thankfully, we are not aware of any injuries or crashes as a result of this defect and we want to keep it that way. We are contacting all of our customers who may be affected to arrange for the immediate inspection and possible replacement of their tires. The safety and security of our customers are two things that we take very seriously.

GM’s approach to tire safety is unique. Our exclusive Tire Performance Criteria (TPC), developed more than 25 years ago, helps to ensure that original equipment tires are precisely matched to the vehicle on which they are used. In 1996, GM began covering tires under the “Bumper to Bumper” New Vehicle Limited Warranty. That has allowed us to continually monitor the real-world performance of the tires on our vehicles by paying close attention to the warranty records on a monthly basis. In fact, our warranty system caused our dealers to return three tires to GM, which we then sent to Firestone for further analysis. It was the examination of these three tires, together with other Firestone data that helped Firestone in its analysis and conclusion that there should be a recall.

Customers can perform a simple two-step process to find out if their vehicle could be involved. First, check the top line of the sticker on the driver’s side door to see if the words “MFD BY GENERAL MOTORS DE MEXICO” appear. If the vehicle was manufactured in Mexico, look at the date in the upper right corner of the sticker. If the date is “04/00” or “05/00” the vehicle may be involved in the recall.

Anyone with questions can call the GM Tire Safety Hotline toll-free at (866) 522-0505 or go to www.gmtiresafety.com.

Contact: Terry Rhadigan
              GM Safety Communications
              (810) 947-6990