Bridgestone, Ford reportedly reach deal

TOKYO - Bridgestone Corp. of Japan has reached an agreement in principle with Ford Motor Co. to settle disputes over tires and normalize business ties, a newspaper said Sunday.<br> <br> The breakthrough came after meetings in the United States from November to December held by Bridgestone president Shigeo Watanabe; John Lampe, chief executive of its American subsidiary; and top Ford executive Nick Scheele, the Yomiuri Shimbun said, citing unnamed sources.<br> <br> Details of the agreement, including conditions of the normalized business relationship, will be hammered out later this month, the report said.<br> <br> Bridgestone officials were not immediately available for comment Sunday. A Ford spokesman did not immediately return a message left Sunday.<br> <br> During the upcoming talks, the two companies are also expected to discuss whether Bridgestone will reimburse Ford for the $13 million it spent on recalling tires made by Bridgestone&#39;s U.S. subsidiary, Bridgestone/Firestone Americas Holding, the Yomiuri said.<br> <br> The newspaper said the companies also discuss whether Ford will resume using Firestone-made tires. Ford may gradually begin using them again under a proposal being discussed, the paper said.<br> <br> Bridgestone/Firestone and Ford ended a 95-year relationship last May amid disagreements over who&#39;s to blame for accidents involving Ford Explorers with Firestone tires during the summer of 2000.<br> <br> Since then, William Clay Ford Jr., great-grandson of Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone, replaced Jacques Nasser as CEO of the Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker. Ford has said he would like to repair relations with Bridgestone/Firestone.<br> <br> Ford Motor Co. believes the rift between the companies, which each blaming the other, is bad for their corporate images. It also said purchasing Bridgestone/Firestone could help the company cut costs, the report said. <br> <br>

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