Continental Tire North America, Inc. (CTNA) has increased production at its six North American tire plants as part of a plan to supply tires to Ford Motor Co.
As part of its relationship with Ford, CTNA will provide "several million tires" to Ford and Mercury dealers, wholesalers and independent tire dealers in North America to help replace all Firestone Wilderness AT tires on Ford vehicles.
"We are pleased that we can help Ford to replace the 13 million tires on its trucks and SUVs and make this process as convenient as possible for the consumer," said Ulrich Wellen, COO of CTNA.
Continental is one of Ford's largest tire suppliers in the United States and Europe. Between its General and Continental brands, the company supplied Ford with 23% of its tires last year, according to Modern Tire Dealer estimates. That tied the company with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. The Firestone brand represented 43%.
According to Continental, affected customers can go to Ford and Mercury dealers, authorized wholesalers or independent dealers to exchange their tires with Continental or General brand tires for free as part of Ford's replacement program.
