Ford's Tire Buyback Program Will End Soon.(Brief Article)

Ford Motor Co. will end its $3 billion program to buy back Firestone tires at the end of March, the automaker's chief financial officer said. Martin Inglis said Ford has replaced roughly 9.5 million of the 13.5 million tires included in the program that began last May. "We would think we still have another $400 million to spend in 2002 on the program," Inglis said during a teleconference.

He said the program was given an ending date to encourage consumers to turn in their tires as soon as possible. Inglis said Ford was concerned about having too many tires on the road that the company feels should be replaced.

Ford began the program to buy back some 13.5 million Firestone tires not included in the August 2000 government-directed recall of 6.5 million tires used mainly as original equipment on Ford Explorers.

To date, the federal government has connected 271 deaths and hundreds of injuries to the tires that it says are prone to tread separations that could lead to vehicle rollovers.

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