Word: forde
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...Explorers rolled over with increasing frequency on U.S. highways, Ford and Firestone turned their attention to a rash of similar accidents in automotive markets from Saudi Arabia to Thailand to Venezuela. In the Middle East, Ford replaced Wilderness AT tires on Explorers and Mercury Mountaineers in nine countries. It did not notify authorities in Washington, nor was it required...
...last year, NHTSA had launched an investigation into the rising number of tire failures--and Ford and Firestone were feuding. The automaker accused Firestone of withholding data that Ford said it needed to determine which tires were problematic...
Firestone's Lampe turned the tables this spring, accusing Ford of refusing to share data about possible Explorer problems. At the same time, Ford was studying a government analysis of tires that Firestone did not include in last year's recall. Although the rate of problems was lower than it had been for the Decatur tires, the data persuaded Ford to announce its recall--even though Ford and Firestone had insisted for months that the problems were confined to the Decatur plant...
...Ford execs may have also been worried that NHSTA would eventually declare a stricter safety standard than Firestone's Wilderness tires could meet. Ford asked NHSTA about the possibility last month. When the agency was noncommittal, Ford opted to replace the tires on its own. Firestone protested and asked Ford to show it the data so the tire company could decide for itself...
...days before Ford acted last week, Lampe learned that the automaker was considering a recall. Lampe angrily phoned Nasser from a meeting in Mexico and again during a plane change in Dallas, but the Ford CEO avoided him. Ford vice president Carlos Mazzorin returned Lampe's call and agreed to a 7 a.m. meeting at Firestone headquarters in Nashville, Tenn., where the two men wrangled over whether the federal data justified a new recall. Even before that meeting, a wary Lampe had drafted a letter to Nasser terminating the historic partnership between Ford and Firestone...