The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on Tuesday they would not launch a formal safety investigation of Ford’s best-selling Explorer SUV, despite claims from tyre maker Firestone that it was prone to oversteer, according to a Reuters report.
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The decision will be seen as something of a relief for Ford and a blow to Firestone.
The NHTSA reviewed safety data at the request of Firestone (owned by Japan’s Bridgestone Corp), which raised the possibility last year that defective steering and handling characteristics on the model had contributed to rollover accidents.
“The data does not support Firestone’s contention that Explorers stand out from other SUVs with respect to its handling characteristics following a tread separation,” NHTSA Administrator Jeffrey Runge said in the Reuters report.
Bridgestone/Firestone has recalled 6.5 million ATX, ATX II and Wilderness AT tyres under the August 2000 replacement programme, because they could lose their tread. The tyres were mainly used as original equipment on the Ford Explorer and have been blamed in thousands of accidents and 271 deaths in the United States.
A further 13.5 million Firestone tyres were brought into a Ford tyre replacement programme last May.
Ford and Firestone have at times engaged in blaming each other for some of the problems and the ‘Firestone debacle’ has cost Ford considerably in its financial bottom line, contributing to the ousting of Jac Nasser as CEO last autumn.
