Goodyear lost Explorer contract on pricing basis, document says

WASHINGTON (Sept. 29)—Goodyear lost its original equipment contract on the Ford Explorer and other Ford models because it couldn´t match the low prices offered by Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. and other competitors, according to a Ford internal document released by the House Commerce Committee. The document—a letter by C.J. Hole of Ford Motor Co. to Les Connolly of Goodyear—identified eight Goodyear tire models supplied as OE to Ford as being priced at "a 2-5 percent premium" over tires supplied by Goodyear´s competitors. "The pricing level disparity between Goodyear and your competitors is a significant concern to us," Hole wrote in the letter dated Jan. 26, 1996. Goodyear supplied half the tires for the Ford Explorer in model years 1996 and 1997.