Ford’s popular Explorer sport utility vehicle, recalled in 2001 over its alleged tendency to roll over if a Firestone tyre blew out, has been dealt another blow. According to the Detroit News, U-Haul International is forbidding its outlets to rent trailers to US customers who plan to tow with the Explorer, saying it no longer can afford to defend product liability lawsuits linked to the best-selling model.
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The ‘motor city’ newspaper said the unusual move by U-Haul comes after the Explorer appeared to have overcome lingering image problems associated with the Firestone tyre debacle. According to Ward’s Auto data, the Ford was America’s fourth most popular light truck model in 2003, selling 373,118 units.
The Detroit News said U-Haul — North America’s largest trailer rental company with more than 17,000 outlets — implemented the policy on December 22, saying the ban was not related to safety.
“U-Haul has chosen not to rent behind this tow vehicle based on our history of excessive costs in defending lawsuits involving Ford Explorer towing combinations,” the company told the Detroit News.
But U-Haul spokeswoman Joanne Fried declined to disclose how much the Phoenix-based company has spent defending lawsuits involving Explorers, the paper added.
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By GlobalData“The decision is not based on one accident,” she reportedly said. “It’s based on several different lawsuits going on for several years.”
Ford Jon Harmon told the Detroit News U-Haul’s decision is “surprising and disappointing.”
“This is all about runaway litigation and trial lawyers forcing businesses to make unfortunate decisions for fear of lawsuits,” Harmon reportedly said.
The paper noted that U-Haul was embroiled in a lawsuit that Bridgestone/Firestone settled out of court in September, involving three college students who were injured in 1999 when their Firestone-equipped Explorer overturned while pulling a U-Haul trailer.
Fried and U-Haul would not release details about the accidents cited in its lawsuits, the Detroit News said.
A bulletin issued to U-Haul dealers last month, which was obtained by the paper, reportedly said the company’s move was “based on the negative perceptions of Ford Explorers… we are separating ourselves from the negative public perception and its potential consequences.”
The Detroit News noted that U-Haul has no ban on rentals to Mercury Mountaineer owners, although the vehicle is mechanically a carbon copy of the Explorer.
“We’ve had no issues with the Mercury Mountaineer,” Fried reportedly said.
The Detroit News said the slight is the latest in a series of setbacks that have dogged the Explorer, which is America’s top-selling SUV and the sixth-best selling vehicle in 2003.
The paper noted that, in August 2001, Firestone was forced to recall 14.4 million defective tyres – fitted mostly to Explorers – because the treads often separated, causing drivers to lose control of their SUVs and often roll over.
Federal regulators linked 271 deaths and more than 800 injuries to the defective tyres, the Detroit News said, adding that Ford recalled an additional 13 million Firestone tyres in May 2001.
Ford and Bridgestone/Firestone have spent millions of dollars to settle product liability cases over the tyres and SUV, the Detroit News report said.
The paper noted that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in February 2002 that there was not enough evidence to open a formal defect investigation of the Explorer.
Sid Gilreath, a Knoxville, Tennessee, lawyer involved in product liability litigation for more than three decades, told the Detroit News that, after the widely publicised Firestone tyre recall, the Explorer has become a favourite target of product liability lawyers and added that the number of lawsuits involving Explorers isn’t necessarily a reflection of its performance characteristics.
