Brand Failures

PR failures 145
buying about 40 per cent of its tyres from Firestone, far more than from any
other manufacturer.
However, Firestone has suffered more than any of its competitors from a
number of high profile tyre failures. In 1977, the US government forced a
recall of around 14 million tyres after 41 deaths and even more injuries were
apparently caused by blowouts of the Firestone ‘500’ tyres. Following all the
negative PR this caused, Firestone lost its number one market position, to
rival Goodyear.
Despite a decline in sales, the relationship with Ford was maintained intact.
It was only when the quality of Firestone tyres was again placed under the
spotlight in the late 1990s that trouble erupted between the two companies.
In 1999, Ford received a number of complaints from customers in Thailand
and Saudi Arabia, and ordered a recall of its cars in those regions. The
company also asked Firestone to investigate these complaints. After taking
six months to conduct the investigation, Firestone declared there was no
problem with its tyres.
Now, however, the situation had spread to the United States, where a series
of traffic accidents had prompted a Texan TV station to carry out an exposé
of the problem. At the same time, the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) launched an official enquiry in which both Ford
and Firestone had to submit evidence.
While Firestone agreed to co-operate with the NHTSA, at first the
company refused to supply any information on faulty tyres to Ford. When
it eventually did so, Ford immediately subjected the data to heavy scrutiny
and showed its findings to the NHTSA. The findings apparently confirmed
that the tread of the tyres separated when the car was driven at high speed.
Within four days, the NHTSA issued a mandatory recall notice.
Firestone was still determined to fight its corner. When Ford suggested the
company publish all the data on its tyres, Firestone refused, maintaining that
the main cause of the accidents was the design and specification of the Ford
Explorer. Their argument is explained by the editorial team of the justauto.com
Web site:
In order to give a more comfortable ride, Ford had ignored Firestone’s
recommendation of tyre pressures in the 30–36 psi range and had
recommended pressures at the bottom end of that range. Any neglect
by owners had resulted in under-inflated tyres which ran hotter than