January 2, 2001
- Firestone today announced that it
is initiating a voluntary recall of approximately 8,000 tires produced
during the week of April 23, 2000, at its Cuernavaca, Mexico plant in
order to ensure the recovery of about 150 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 small portion of non-specified rubber material in the
#1 stabilizer belt (the steel belt closest to the inside of the tire).
A thorough assessment of a significant sample of tires manufactured
during the week of April 23, 2000, 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 # V672WL11700 (black sidewall) and DOT #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 this action
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
2000. 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.
The affected tires were produced the week of April
23, 2000, and are being recalled in immediate response to a specific
problem identified in these tires that was confirmed by a review of
the company’s warranty adjustment data.
“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 CEO, Bridgestone/Firestone. “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.”
“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 who are affected 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.
In a related action, Firestone also today announced
that it will be conducting a campaign in Mexico to capture approximately
500 of the recalled P265/70R16 Wilderness LE tires, which may have been
released to the Mexican replacement tire market. While there is no evidence
that any tires exhibiting the deficiency are in the Mexican market,
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.
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