Firestone makes last tire shipment to Ford

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (April 9)—Bridgestone/Firestone made its last shipment of tires to Ford Motor Co. April 1, officially ending the 97-year business relationship that began with a handshake deal between Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone. BFS terminated all business with Ford in May 2002, after the auto maker made a unilateral decision to replace 13 million Firestone Wilderness AT tires over and above the 6.5 million the Nashville-based company recalled in August 2000. "Once the decision was made to dissolve the relationship, we also decided that we wouldn't leave Ford in the lurch," a Bridgestone/Firestone spokesman said. "In some cases contracts were extended when Ford couldn't find an alternative supplier." The Bridgestone group still supplies tires to Ford everywhere except the Americas, he said.