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.
Firestone makes last tire shipment to Ford
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