View source for Firestone Tire and Rubber Company

{{short description|American tire company}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2025}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Firestone Tire and Rubber Company
| logo = Firestone.svg
| logo_size = 255px
| image = Bridgestone Americas HQ 1.jpg
| image_caption = [[Bridgestone Tower]] in Nashville, headquarters of Firestone and Bridgestone Americas
| type = [[Subsidiary]]
| industry = [[Manufacturing]]
| founded = {{Start date and age|1900|08|03}}<br />[[Akron, Ohio]], U.S.
| founder = [[Harvey S. Firestone]]
| hq_location_city = [[Akron, Ohio]] (1900{{En dash}}1987; 1989{{En dash}}1992) <br> [[Chicago, Illinois]] (1987{{En dash}}1989) <br> [[Nashville, Tennessee]] (1992{{En dash}}present)
| locations = 1,700 repair shop locations
| area_served = Worldwide
| key_people = {{ublist |Paolo Ferrari |([[Chief executive officer|CEO]] and [[President (corporate title)|president]]) |Scott Damon ([[Chief operating officer|COO]])}}
| products = [[Tires]]
| revenue = {{increase}} U.S.$2.09 billion
| revenue_year = 2004
| parent = [[Bridgestone]]
| num_employees = 33,000
| website = {{URL|Firestone.com}}
| footnotes = <ref>{{Cite press release|url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bridgestone-americas-announces-100-vaccine-support-payment-for-us-employees-301244067.html|title = Bridgestone Americas Announces $100 Vaccine Support Payment for U.S. Employees}}</ref>
}}

'''Firestone Tire and Rubber Company''' is an American [[tire]] manufacturer based in [[Nashville, Tennessee]]. It was founded in 1900 by [[Harvey S. Firestone]] in [[Akron, Ohio]], originally producing solid rubber side-wire tires for [[fire apparatus]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Bridgestone Americas History |url=https://www.bridgestoneamericas.com/en/corporation/history |website=Bridgestone Americas, Inc. |access-date=November 8, 2018 |language=en}}</ref><ref>Reprint from an article dated December 29, 1906: {{cite web |title=The Firestone Side-wire Motor Tire  |url=https://www.fireengineering.com/articles/print/volume-40/issue-26/features/the-firestone-side-wire-motor-tire.html |website=www.fireengineering.com |date=December 29, 1906 |publisher=[[PennWell]] |quote=It may be pointed out that the Firestone, side-wire motor tire is admirably adapted for chiefs' buggies and automobiles, and for wagons and vehicles of all descriptions, whether in fire departments or in ordinary use outside of the fire service |access-date=November 8, 2018 }}{{Dead link|date=March 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The company later expanded to manufacture pneumatic tires for wagons, carriages, and other wheeled vehicles of the time.

Recognizing the emerging market for automobile tires, Firestone was a pioneer in the [[mass production]] of tires. Harvey Firestone's close relationship with [[Henry Ford]] helped establish Firestone as the original equipment supplier for [[Ford Motor Company]] vehicles, while also maintaining a strong presence in the replacement tire market.<ref>{{cite book |last= Newton |first= James |title= Uncommon Friends: Life with Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, Alexis Carrel, and Charles Lindbergh |publisher= [[Mariner Books]] |date=  1989 |isbn= 978-0-15-692620-1 |url-access= registration |url= https://archive.org/details/uncommonfriends00jame }}</ref> In 1988, Firestone was acquired by the Japanese tire manufacturer [[Bridgestone]], and the brand now operates as part of Bridgestone Americas, Inc.<ref>{{cite web | title=Bridgestone Americas, Inc. | website=USTMA | url=https://www.ustires.org/about-us/members/bridgestone-americas-inc | access-date=October 17, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Davis | first=Bruce | title=Bridgestone to revitalize Firestone as market evolves | website=Tire Business | date=July 30, 2025 | url=https://www.tirebusiness.com/manufacturers/bridgestone-plans-revitalize-firestone-tire-brand-market-changes | access-date=October 17, 2025}}</ref>

==Company history==

===Early to mid 20th century===
[[File:FSStorefront.png|thumb|The first Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. store]]
Firestone was originally based in [[Akron, Ohio]], also the hometown of its archrival, [[Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company]], and two other midsized competitors, [[General Tire|General Tire and Rubber Company]] and [[B.F. Goodrich Company]]. Founded on August 3, 1900,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.bridgestone-firestone.com/corporate/history/index.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130216114006/http://www.bridgestone-firestone.com/corporate/history/index.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=February 16, 2013 | title=A Global Dream | publisher=Bridgestone Americas | access-date=August 3, 2013 }}</ref> the company initiated operations with 12 employees.<ref name="bridge">{{cite web | url=http://bridgestone-firestone.ca/eng/history/default.asp |title=History of Bridgestone/Firestone | publisher=Bridgestone/Firestone Canada | year=2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100510230226/http://www.bridgestone-firestone.ca/eng/history/default.asp | archive-date=May 10, 2010}}</ref> Together, Firestone and Goodyear were the largest suppliers of automotive tires in North America for over 75 years. In 1906, Henry Ford chose Firestone to supply tires for [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]] car models.<ref>[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EPF/is_5_100/ai_65911267 Firestone 8000 Tire Order by Ford] Ford Chooses Firestone for Model T</ref>

In 1918, Firestone Tire and Rubber Company of Canada was incorporated in [[Hamilton, Ontario]], and the first Canadian-made tire rolled off the line on September 15, 1922.<ref name="Canada">[http://www.firestonenoida.com/ Canada manufactures first Firestone tire] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100510230226/http://www.bridgestone-firestone.ca/eng/history/default.asp|date=May 10, 2010}} Firestone Canada Incorporated</ref> During the 1920s, Firestone produced the Oldfield tire, named for [[auto racing|racing]] driver [[Barney Oldfield]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Barney Oldfield |url=http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Barney_Oldfield |website=Ohio History Central |publisher=Ohio History Connection |access-date=November 8, 2018 |language=en}}</ref>

In 1926, the company opened one of the world's largest [[rubber plantation]]s, extending over {{convert|1000000|acre|sqmi km2|-1|spell=in}}, in [[Liberia, West Africa]]. That year the company also opened its first Firestone Tire and Service Center (later renamed Firestone Complete Auto Care). Firestone Complete Auto Care is the division of Firestone that offers automotive maintenance and repair, including tires.{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}

[[File:Firestone Tires (3093784164).jpg|thumb|upright|Firestone Tires advertisement {{circa|1912}}]]

In 1927, Henry Ford and Harvey S. Firestone visited [[Southern California]] to select locations for new factories. His friends said Ford wanted to be near the ocean and picked [[Long Beach, California|Long Beach]] and suggested Firestone locate in [[South Gate, California]], a small community southeast of downtown [[Los Angeles]] that at the time was mostly farmland. Firestone identified {{convert|40|acre|0}} of beanfields for the site of his new manufacturing plant. Architects Curlett and Beelman designed a spectacular four-story [[Italianate architecture|Italianate]]{{hyphen}}style complex, with its own power plant and decorated with [[polychrome]] murals by [[Gladding, McBean]] depicting the tire and rubber-making process. A year after the plant opened in 1928, it expanded to double the initial size, and by 1954 grew to nearly {{convert|1000000|sqft|acre ha|spell=in}}. The town grew around Firestone; its [[Firestone Boulevard|main boulevard]] was named after Harvey, and Los Angeles became the number one tire market in the country. By the mid-1970s, Ford and General Motors had massive layoffs as Firestone and other manufacturers opened new plants in non{{hyphen}}union locales like [[Wilson, North Carolina]]. After considerable downsizing, the South Gate plant was closed in 1980, and 1,300 workers were laid off. [[East Los Angeles College]] has proposed a new satellite campus at the site.<ref>{{cite news|author=Chris Nichols |url=http://www.lamag.com/askchris/displa-case-52-las-first-firestone-tire/ |title=DispL.A. Case #52: L.A.'s First Firestone Tire  |newspaper=Los Angeles Magazine |publisher=Lamag.com |date=March 1, 2013 |access-date=December 17, 2015}}</ref>

In 1928, the company [[Firestone tyre factory (London)|built a factory]] in [[Golden Mile (Brentford)|Brentford, England]], a longtime [[Art Deco]] landmark on a major route into the city; this closed in 1979.{{citation needed|date=August 2018}} After its purchase by [[Trafalgar House (company)|Trafalgar House]], the building was demolished during the August 1980 [[bank holiday]] weekend, reportedly in anticipation of its becoming [[listed building|listed]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Fiona MacCarthy |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2004/nov/20/architecture |title=Grand designs &#124; Art and design |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=November 20, 2004 |access-date=October 17, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/4254295/Erotic-gherkin-company-has-form.html|title='Erotic gherkin' company has 'form'|quote=Trafalgar House used to own the Firestone Building on Western Avenue. Two days before the building was to be listed, it flattened that, too. | location=London|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=August 25, 2000}}</ref>

In 1936, the company opened a plant in [[Memphis, Tennessee]]. With a work force exceeding 3,000 employees, the Memphis plant was the largest tire manufacturer in the company's worldwide operation. On July 1, 1963, the company celebrated the production of 100 million tires in Memphis.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.memphisflyer.com/AskVanceBlog/archives/2009/02/14/firestone-tire-and-rubber-company|title=Firestone Tire & Rubber Company|first=Vance|last=Lauderdale|website=Memphis Flyer|access-date=February 19, 2019}}</ref> The Memphis plant closed in 1982,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/08/18/business/firestone-closings.html|title=Firestone Closings|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 18, 1982|access-date=February 19, 2019}}</ref> and most of the plant buildings were demolished. The [[US Environmental Protection Agency|EPA]] considers the tract a [[brownfield|brownfield site]], and the possible presence of [[hazardous substance]]s or contaminants have deterred its [[redevelopment]].<ref>Dries, Bill. [https://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2018/aug/18/firestone-fallout/ Firestone Fallout]. Memphis Daily News, August 18, 2018.</ref><ref>Grabenstein, Hannah. [https://mlk50.com/2021/05/27/blight-authority-of-memphis-ramps-up-programs-to-revitalize-communities/ Blight Authority of Memphis ramps up programs to revitalize communities.] MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, May 27, 2021.</ref>

During [[World War II]], the company was called on by the [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. Government]] to make [[artillery]] [[Shell (projectile)|shells]], [[aluminum]] [[keg]]s for food transport, and rubberized military products. [[Barrage balloon]]s were produced at Akron.<ref>"Barrage Balloons In Production," ''The San Bernardino Daily Sun'', San Bernardino, California, Monday January 26, 1942, Vol. 48, p. 9.</ref> Firestone ranked 55th among U.S. corporations in the value of wartime military production contracts.<ref>[[Whiz Kids (Department of Defense)|Peck, Merton J.]] & [[Frederic M. Scherer|Scherer, Frederic M.]] ''The Weapons Acquisition Process: An Economic Analysis'' (1962) [[Harvard Business School]] p. 619</ref> In the 1940s, Firestone was given a defense contract to produce plastic helmet liners; while outproduced by [[Westinghouse Electric]], they still made a fair amount for the [[M1 Helmet]].{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}

On September 2, 1940, William Hoppmann, the General Manager of Firestone's Havana office was discharged from his position under the suspicion of being a Nazi agent.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cuba: General Conditions – MID 2056-213 thru 2056-257 (1 of 2) |url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/241519395 |website=US National Archives Catalog|series=Records of the War Department General and Special Staffs }}</ref> On October 11, 1941, a fire at the Firestone Rubber and Latex plant in [[Fall River, Massachusetts]] destroyed 5 out of its 8 buildings and destroyed at least 15,000 tons of rubber. The fire caused $12 million in damage<ref>{{cite web |last=Selleck |first=A |date=November 1, 1941 |title=Rubber Fire at Fall River Causes $12,000,000 Loss |url=https://www.fireengineering.com/articles/print/volume-94/issue-11/features/rubber-fire-at-fall-river-causes-12-000-000-loss.html |website=www.fireengineering.com}}</ref> (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|12000000|1941}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP}}).

[[File:Corporalmissile.jpg|thumb|[[MGM-5 Corporal]] missile]]

In 1951, Firestone was given the defense contract for the [[MGM-5 Corporal]] [[missile]]. Firestone was given a total of US$6,888,796 (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|6888796|1951}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP}}) for the first 200 units. Known as the "Embryo of the Army", it was a [[Surface-to-surface missile|surface{{hyphen}}to{{hyphen}}surface]] guided missile which could deliver a high{{hyphen}}explosive warhead up to {{convert|75|nmi|km|round=5}}. It was later modified to be able to carry a [[Nuclear weapon|nuclear]] payload for use in the event of [[Cold War]] hostilities in Eastern Europe. Built in southern California, this missile was replaced in 1962 by the [[MGM-29 Sergeant]] system.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.redstone.army.mil/history/systems/corporal/welcome.html | title=Corporal | publisher=Redstone Arsenal | access-date=March 22, 2007 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310222630/http://www.redstone.army.mil/history/systems/corporal/welcome.html | archive-date=March 10, 2007 }}</ref>

In 1961, Firestone acquired the Dayton Tire division from the [[Dayco]] Corporation. Dayco later sued both Firestone and [[Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company|Goodyear]], alleging that the two companies conspired to monopolize the tire industry in the United States. The United States District Court dismissed the lawsuit.<ref>{{cite court |litigants=Dayco Corporation v. Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. |vol=386 |reporter=F. Supp. |opinion=546 |court=N.D. Ohio |url=https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/386/546/2307902/ |access-date=August 2, 2018 }}</ref> In 1965, Firestone acquired the [[Seiberling Rubber Company]].

===Restructuring and sale to Bridgestone===
In 1972, Firestone received a ten{{hyphen}}year import "concession" by the [[Kenya]]n government to secure Firestone's investment in a domestic tire plant, which gave it a virtual monopoly.<ref name="Robert Bates 1981. p. 68">Robert Bates. Markets and States in Tropical Africa: University of California Press, 1981. p. 68</ref> This included both general price and [[foreign exchange controls]].<ref name="Stopford 1991, p. 148">Stopford, Strange and Henley. Rival States, Rival Firms: Competition for world market shares, Press syndicate of the University of Cambridge, 1991, p. 148</ref> When the ten{{hyphen}}year period came to an end in 1979, Firestone retaliated by increasing production, making entry less attractive.<ref name="Robert Bates 1981. p. 68"/> Headquarters eventually canceled expansion and failed negotiations led to no further investments.<ref name="Stopford 1991, p. 148"/>

In late 1979, Firestone brought in John Nevin, the ex{{hyphen}}head of [[Zenith Electronics]], as president to save the hemorrhaging company from total collapse. It was more than a billion dollars in debt at the time and losing $250 million a year (equivalent respectively to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|1000000000|1979}}}} and ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|250000000|1979}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP}}). Nevin closed nine of the company's seventeen manufacturing plants, including six in one day, and relocated the company from its ancestral home in [[Akron, Ohio]] to {{nowrap|[[Chicago, Illinois]].<ref name=flvaktb>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fycxAAAAIBAJ&pg=1558%2C818572|work=Toledo Blade |location=Ohio |agency=Associated Press |title=Firestone leaving Akron |date=May 1, 1987 |page=20}}</ref>}} He spun off non{{hyphen}}tire related businesses, including the [[Firestone Country Club]]; it was considered a deliberate plan to boost the stock price, and it paid off.{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}

[[File:Firestone Tire and Rubber Company.jpg|thumb|Former Firestone headquarters in Akron]]

In 1988, after discussions with [[Pirelli]], Nevin negotiated the sale of the company to the Japanese company [[Bridgestone]], which was able to buy the company for much less than it had been worth a decade and a half earlier.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.tirereview.com/Default.aspx?type=art&id=6133&switchMonth=2&switchYear=2007 | title=Old & Dangerous? | publisher=Tire Review Online | access-date=March 22, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927201608/http://www.tirereview.com/Default.aspx?type=art&id=6133&switchMonth=2&switchYear=2007 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = September 27, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.tirebusiness.com/subscriber/opinion2.phtml?cat=3&id=1149519985&subtitle=Editorial | title=Tire industry loses two giants | publisher=Tire Business | date=June 5, 2006 | access-date=March 22, 2007 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928142011/http://www.tirebusiness.com/subscriber/opinion2.phtml?cat=3&id=1149519985&subtitle=Editorial | archive-date=September 28, 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,963555-2,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070224182850/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,963555-2,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=February 24, 2007 | title=The Companies | publisher=Time | author=Stephen Koepp | date=February 16, 1997 | access-date=March 22, 2007}}</ref> The companies celebrated the 20th anniversary of the merger in 2008, and changed the name of the tire division to Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC.

Bridgestone Americas, which has served as the American branch of Japan{{hyphen}}based Bridgestone since 1992,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bridgestoneamericas.com/content/bscorpcomm-sites/americas/en/corporation/history.html|title=Bridgestone Americas History|website=Bridgestone Americas, Inc.|access-date=February 16, 2020}}</ref> moved their corporate office to [[downtown Nashville]] in October 2017.<ref>{{cite press release |url=https://www.bridgestoneamericas.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2017/bridgestone-americas-celebrates-topping-out-of-new-headquarters |title=Bridgestone Americas Celebrates Topping Out of New Headquarters |date=April 7, 2017 |publisher=Bridgestone Americas |access-date=August 2, 2018 }}</ref> In April 2012, Bridgestone Americas opened up its new ''Bridgestone Americas Technical Center'' in Akron. The $100 million facility, located near the former headquarters, tire plant, and technical center, houses 450 employees whose jobs are to develop innovative and advanced tire technologies for the company.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aftermarketnews.com/bridgestone-unveils-new-akron-tech-center/|title=Bridgestone Unveils New Akron Tech Center &#124; Aftermarket News|website=www.aftermarketnews.com|date=April 12, 2012 }}</ref>

In June 2022, Bridgestone opened up its $21 million ''Advanced Tire Production Center'' which replaced the ''Firestone Advance Tire Works Plant'' at the original Firestone Tire and Rubber Company headquarters, which opened in 1910. The new building is home of the company's racing tire production for the [[NTT IndyCar Series]]. The plant manufactures all Firestone Firehawk racing tires. It is the first new tire plant in the city of Akron in more than 70 years. Bridgestone also opened up a $6 million test track adjacent to the ''Advanced Tire Production Center'' to support passenger tire testing and development. The test track opened in autumn 2022. Bridgestone has invested more than $125 million in its Akron operations since 2012, when the company opened the Bridgestone Americas Technology Center.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/news/local/2022/06/22/bridgestone-opens-new-advanced-tire-production-center-akron/7690608001/|title=Bridgestone opens new Advanced Tire Production Center &#124; Beacon Journal|website=www.beaconjournal.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tiretechnologyinternational.com/news/manufacturing-facilities/bridgestone-opens-race-tire-production-facility-in-akron.html/|title=Bridgestone opens race-tire production facility in Akron Tire Technology International|website=www.tiretechnologyinternational.com|date=June 24, 2022 }}</ref>

==Brands and products==

===Auto care===
Firestone Complete Auto Care is a chain of automotive maintenance shops founded in [[Nashville, Tennessee]] in 1926. There are over 2,300 Complete Auto Care locations in the United States, all of them independently owned by Firestone, with about 20 million customers each year as of 2002.<ref>{{cite web|title=About Us|url=https://www.firestonecompleteautocare.com/about/|publisher=Firestone Complete Auto Care|access-date=May 4, 2022}}</ref> At the start of 2022 Bridgestone, parent company of Firestone, announced that it will expand its hybrid and electric vehicular services<ref>{{cite web|title=Bridgestone Launches EV Services At Firestone And Wheel Works Centers|url=https://www.firestonecompleteautocare.com/about/|publisher=Firestone|access-date=May 4, 2022}}</ref>

===Motorsports===
[[File:Firestone tires 2011 Indy Japan 300.jpg|thumb|Firestone Firehawk high{{hyphen}}performance tires at the [[Indy Japan 300]]]]
The [[Indianapolis 500]] auto race was won in [[1911 Indianapolis 500|1911]] by a car running Firestone tires, as did all winners of the race from [[1920 Indianapolis 500|1920]] to [[1966 Indianapolis 500|1966]]. The company also provided tires to [[NASCAR]] from 1948 to 1974, and to [[Formula One]] from 1950 to 1974 and returned again from 1999 to 2002 as a circuit trackside sponsor due to Bridgestone partnership. Citing rising costs as the cause, Firestone announced its withdrawal from professional motorsports in August 1974 with the exception of [[Formula 5000]] and Formula One. The change was forecast to reduce Firestone's annual race testing budget from between $6 and $8 million to around $500,000<ref>{{cite news|title=Firestone Cutback Likely|date=August 14, 1974|work=The Kingsport Times| publisher = [[Ancestry.com#Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> (in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}, roughly equivalent to a reduction from ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|6000000|1974}}}}–${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|8000000|1974}}}} to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|500000|1974}}}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP}}.) Shortly afterward, Firestone extended this to a complete withdrawal by the end of the 1974 season.<ref>{{cite news|title=Andretti Dream Threatened|date=August 30, 1974|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|quote=development, production and service of U.S Auto Club championship and Formula racing cars will be phased out by the end of the 1974 season.}}</ref> The manufacturer returned in 1995 to the [[Championship Auto Racing Teams|CART Series]] with technical assistance from Bridgestone. Firestone has been the sole supplier of tires for the [[IndyCar Series]] since 2000 and will run until the 2030 season.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.firestonetire.com/firestone-racing/indycar-experience/|title=Get Ready for Race Day with IndyCar Basics &#124; Firestone Racing|website=www.firestonetire.com}}</ref>

===Advertisements===
''Where the Rubber Meets the Road''<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.firestone100.com/history/audio.html | title=Firestone Jingle | publisher=Firestone | format=QuickTime | access-date=March 22, 2007 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061017184731/http://www.firestone100.com/history/audio.html | archive-date=October 17, 2006 }}</ref> is an advertisement [[jingle]] that was frequently used in the 1960s and 1970s, especially on televised sporting events. The jingle was sung by [[Don Rondo]].

:Wherever wheels are turning,
:No matter what the load,
:The name that's known is ''Firestone''
:Where the rubber meets the road.

==Controversies==

===Great American streetcar scandal===
In 1950, Firestone along with [[General Motors]] and [[Chevron Corporation|Standard Oil]], were charged and convicted of [[criminal conspiracy]] for their part in the [[Great American streetcar scandal]]. The scandal included purchasing [[streetcar]] systems throughout the United States and dismantling and replacing them with buses.<ref name="chomsky">{{cite book|title=Year 501: the Conquest Continues|first=Noam|last=Chomsky|publisher=South End Press|year=1999|isbn=0-89608-444-2|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/year501conquest000chom}}</ref>

===Firestone 500 tread separation problem===
[[Radial tire]]s were introduced to the U.S. market by rivals [[BFGoodrich|B.F. Goodrich]] and [[Michelin]] in the late 1960s, and Firestone lacked their own radial tire. The first radial tire developed and produced by Firestone was the ill{{hyphen}}fated Firestone 500 radial. Manufacturing of the new tire was performed on equipment designed to manufacture bias{{hyphen}}ply tires.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jags.org/TechInfo/2001/05May01/tires/historyoftires.htm |title=History |publisher=Jags.org |access-date=December 17, 2015 |archive-date=March 6, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150306211250/http://www.jags.org/TechInfo/2001/05May01/tires/historyoftires.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

During the 1970s, Firestone experienced major problems with the Firestone 500 radial. The Firestone 500 steel{{hyphen}}belted radials began to show signs of separation of the tread at high speeds. While the cause was never proved, it is believed that the failure of bonding cements, used by Firestone to hold the tread to the tire carcass, may have allowed water to penetrate the tire, which in turn may have caused the internal steel wire to corrode. In March 1978, the U.S. [[National Highway Traffic Safety Administration]] (NHTSA) announced publicly a formal investigation into defects of the Firestone 500. The NHTSA investigation found that the tread separation problem was most probably a design defect affecting all Firestone 500s.{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}

In 1973, only two years after the 500's debut, Thomas A. Robertson, Firestone's director of development, wrote an internal memo stating "We are making an inferior quality radial tire which will subject us to belt{{En dash}}edge separation at high mileage".<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,912478-1,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070224071854/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,912478-1,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=February 24, 2007 | title=Forewarnings of Fatal Flaws | publisher=Time | date=June 25, 1979 | access-date=March 22, 2007}}</ref> Firestone introduced strict quality control measures in an attempt to fix the inherent problems, however they were not successful in eliminating the basic faults. In 1977 a recall of 400,000 tires produced at the problematic [[Decatur, Illinois]] plant was initiated. Firestone blamed the problems on the consumer, stating underinflation and poor maintenance.{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}

On October 20, 1978, Firestone recalled over 7 million Firestone 500 tires,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.firestonenoida.com/|title=Timeline of key events in the history of Ford and Firestone|last=rehan|first=khan|access-date=March 22, 2007|publisher=St. Petersburg Times|archive-date=May 10, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100510230226/http://www.bridgestone-firestone.ca/eng/history/default.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref> the largest tire recall to date. Congressional hearings into the 500 also took place in 1978. The tire was found to be defective and the cause of 250 deaths. In May 1980 after finding that they knew the tires were defective, the NHTSA fined Firestone $500,000 (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|500000|1980}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP}}), which at that time was the largest fine imposed on any U.S. corporation and the largest civil penalty imposed since passage of the 1966 [[National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act]]. Multiple lawsuits were settled out of court and the constant negative publicity crippled the company's sales and share price.<ref name=Wharton>{{cite web | url=http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=232&CFID=5981763&CFTOKEN=72965973 | title=Firestone's Second Big Tire Blowout | publisher=Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania | date=August 30, 2000 | access-date=March 22, 2007}}</ref>

[[Harvard Business School]] and [[Wharton School]] of the [[University of Pennsylvania]] taught classes and wrote papers on the issues of misjudgments and poor decision-making by the management of Firestone.<ref name=Wharton/><ref>{{cite web | url=http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/1832.html | title=The Dynamics of Standing Still: Firestone Tire & Rubber and the Radial Revolution | publisher=Harvard Business School | author=Donald N. Sull | date=November 27, 2000 | access-date=March 22, 2007}}</ref> After years of bad publicity and millions paid out in compensation to victims, Firestone was losing vast amounts of money, and its name was severely damaged.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0009/06/se.06.html | title=Joint Committees Deliver Opening Statements at Congressional Hearing on Firestone Recall | publisher=CNN | date=September 6, 2000 | access-date=March 22, 2007 | archive-date=February 25, 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070225012318/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0009/06/se.06.html | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.commondreams.org/headlines/090400-02.htm | title=Stricter Rules for Tire Safety Were Scrapped by Reagan | work=The New York Times | author=Keith Bradsher | date=September 4, 2000 | access-date=March 22, 2007 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070612004531/http://www.commondreams.org/headlines/090400-02.htm | archive-date=June 12, 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.usatoday.com/money/consumer/autos/mauto976.htm | title=A bumpy road for the radial-ply tire | publisher=USA Today | date=December 26, 2000 | access-date=March 22, 2007}}</ref>

===Liberian rubber plantation===
{{main|Firestone Natural Rubber Company}}
[[File:ASC Leiden - F. van der Kraaij Collection - 13 - 016 - The Firestone rubber plantation. Interior of the latex factory - Harbel, Montserrado county, Liberia - 1976.jpg|thumb|upright|Firestone Rubber Natural plantation c. 1976]]

Firestone established the [[Firestone Natural Rubber Company]] plantation in [[Harbel, Liberia]] in 1926. From 1926 until the outbreak of the [[First Liberian Civil War]] in 1990, the Firestone rubber plantation was the largest plantation of its kind in the world.<ref name="Firestone and the Warlord - Intro">{{cite web |last1=Miller |first1=T. Christian |title=Firestone and the Warlord – Intro |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/firestone-and-the-warlord-intro |website=www.propublica.org |publisher=Pro Publica}}</ref> It was originally envisioned for 350,000 people to be employed on the newly created plantations. However this was more than the number of able{{hyphen}}bodied men in the entire nation at the time, which created intense pressure for labor.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Whyte|first=Christine|date=2017|title=A State of Underdevelopment: Sovereignty, Nation-Building and Labor in Liberia 1898–1961|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0147547917000084/type/journal_article|journal=International Labor and Working-Class History|language=en|volume=92|pages=24–46|doi=10.1017/S0147547917000084|s2cid=148968854 |issn=0147-5479|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In the period between 1926 and 1946 Christine Whyte concluded that: <blockquote>The collusion between Firestone and government officials to keep wages low and coerce workers onto the plantations was at best substantially overlooked, at worst regarded as a form of "development" in itself.<ref name=":0" /></blockquote>

In September 1990, rebel [[National Patriotic Front of Liberia]] forces (led by [[Charles Taylor (Liberian politician)|Charles Taylor]], who would later be convicted of [[war crimes]]) executed sitting Liberian president [[Samuel Doe]]<ref>{{cite news|title=Liberia Profile - Timeline|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13732188|agency=BBC - British Broadcasting Company}}</ref> and seized the Harbel plantation.<ref name="Firestone and the Warlord - Intro"/> Firestone had to evacuate its American workers as a result. In June 1991, Firestone sent a delegation to [[Monrovia]] in an attempt to restart operations in Harbel.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Miller|first1=T. Christian|title=Firestone and the Warlord – Chapter 3|url=https://www.propublica.org/article/firestone-and-the-warlord-chapter-3|website=www.propublica.org|publisher=Pro Publica}}</ref> After a month of waiting, the delegation was brought to meet Taylor, and after a further six months of negotiations, the company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Patriotic Reconstruction Assembly Government's Ministry of Finance in January 1992.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Miller|first1=T. Christian|title=Firestone and the Warlord – Chapter 4|url=https://www.propublica.org/article/firestone-and-the-warlord-chapter-4|website=www.propublica.org|publisher=Pro Publica}}</ref> This MOU provided for taxes to be paid by Firestone to the Taylor government, and for the Taylor government to protect Firestone's employees and assets in Liberia.

Firestone resumed operations in March 1992, but once again had to halt in October that same year as hostilities escalated.<ref>{{cite web|title=Frequently Asked Questions|url=http://firestonenaturalrubber.com/media/faqs/|website=firestonenaturalrubber.com|publisher=Firestone Natural Rubber|access-date=November 20, 2014|archive-date=November 25, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141125074716/http://www.firestonenaturalrubber.com/media/faqs/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Over this period, the company had paid $2.3 million in taxes to the Taylor government (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|2300000|1992}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP}}), which some say helped legitimize Taylor's Greater Liberia government and finance and enable its attack on [[ECOMOG]]-controlled Monrovia.<ref>Fienstein A (2011) The shadow world: Inside the global arms trade. New York, USA: Farrar, Straus and Giroux</ref> Operations did not fully restart until 2003 at the conclusion of the [[Second Liberian Civil War]]. Since the end of the war, Firestone has invested over $100 million in restoring and rebuilding its facilities in Liberia.<ref>{{cite web|title=Investing in Liberia|url=http://www.firestonenaturalrubber.com/investment-program/investing-in-liberia/|website=firestonenaturalrubber.com|publisher=Firestone Natural Rubber|access-date=November 20, 2014|archive-date=November 29, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129143513/http://www.firestonenaturalrubber.com/investment-program/investing-in-liberia/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The company's ventures in Liberia have been the subject of considerable scrutiny and criticism, including a 2005 [[Alien Tort Claims Act]] case<ref name="Claim against Firestone">{{cite web| title =Firestone Claim| work =socialfunds.com| url =http://www.socialfunds.com/news/article.cgi/1897.html| access-date =March 23, 2007| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20070206205241/http://www.socialfunds.com/news/article.cgi/1897.html| archive-date =February 6, 2007| url-status =dead}}</ref> brought in [[California]] by the [[International Labor Rights Fund]] and a 2014 investigative report by [[ProPublica]] entitled "Firestone and the Warlord",<ref>{{cite web|last1=Miller|first1=T. Christian|title=Firestone and the Warlord|url=https://www.propublica.org/article/firestone-and-the-warlord-intro|website=www.propublica.org|publisher=ProPublica}}</ref> and a PBS ''[[Frontline (U.S. TV series)|Frontline]]'' documentary by the same name.<ref>{{cite web|title=Firestone and the Warlord|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/documentary/firestone-and-the-warlord/?|website=www.pbs.org|publisher=PBS Frontline}}</ref>

===Ford Explorer tread separation and rollover problem===
{{main|Firestone and Ford tire controversy}}

In 1996, several state agencies in Arizona began experiencing major issues with Firestone tires on Ford Explorers. According to news reports, various agencies demanded new tires, and Firestone conducted an investigation of the complaints, tested the tires and tried to assert that the tires had been abused or under{{hyphen}}inflated.

On September 6, 2000, in a statement before the U.S. Senate [[United States Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies|Appropriations Transportation subcommittee]] the president of the [[consumer advocacy]] group [[Public Citizen]], [[Joan Claybrook]], stated:

{{blockquote|text=...There are a number of parallels between this recall in 2000 and the 1978 recall of the Firestone 500...there was a documented coverup by Firestone of the 500 defect, spurred by the lack of a Firestone replacement tire. When the coverup was disclosed, the top management of the company was replaced as Firestone was severely damaged in reputation and economically. But a key difference is that the Firestone 500 was used on passenger cars, which rarely rolled over with tire failure. NHTSA documented 41 deaths with the 500, a recall, involving seven million tires.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.citizen.org/autosafety/suvsafety/ford_frstone/articles.cfm?ID=5413 | title=Statement of Joan Claybrook On Firestone Tire Defect and Ford Explorer Rollovers Before the Transportation Subcommittee United States Senate Committee on Appropriations | publisher=Public Citizen | date=2000-09-06 | access-date=2007-03-21}}</ref>}}

The report went on to indicate that Ford also had been complicit, stating that The Ford Motor Company had instructed Firestone to add a nylon ply to the tires it manufactured in Venezuela for additional strength and that Ford had made suspension changes to the Explorer model available in Venezuela. Ford did not specify adding the nylon ply for U.S.{{hyphen}}made Firestone tires nor did it change the Explorer suspension on U.S. models at this time.{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}

An abnormally high failure rate in Firestone's Wilderness AT, Firestone ATX, and ATX II tires resulted in multiple lawsuits, as well as an eventual mandatory recall. In 2001 Bridgestone/Firestone severed its ties to Ford citing a lack of trust. The lack of trust stemmed from concerns that Ford had not heeded warnings by Bridgestone/Firestone relating to the design of the Ford Explorer.<ref name = "cnn">{{cite journal
| first =Chris
| last =Isidore
| date =May 21, 2001
| title =Firestone severs ties to Ford
| journal =CNN
| url =https://money.cnn.com/2001/05/21/recalls/firestone/
}}</ref> In 2006, Firestone announced renewed efforts to recall tires of the same model recalled in 2000 after the tires were linked to recent deaths and injuries. According to Firestone's last filing with the National Highway Transportation Administration, only 90,259 of more than 2.5 million recalled tires were confirmed as removed from service by 2009.<ref>[http://www.tiresafetygroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/RCQPR-01T016-0407.pdf NHTSA Recall Campaign 01T-016 Q4 Vehicle Safety Recall Quarterly Report Information, January 25, 2008 (Amended March 26, 2009)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105042115/http://www.tiresafetygroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/RCQPR-01T016-0407.pdf |date=November 5, 2013 }} (from the [[National Highway Traffic Safety Administration]])</ref> In November 2013, two recalled Wilderness AT tires were found in Atlanta, Georgia.<ref name="wsbtv.com">{{Cite web|url=http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/ch-2-investigation-finds-recalled-tires-sale/nbg3G/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105041726/http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/ch-2-investigation-finds-recalled-tires-sale/nbg3G/|url-status=dead|title=Channel 2 Investigation Finds Recalled Tires for Sale, November 4, 2013|archive-date=November 5, 2013}}</ref> One of the tires was offered for sale as new at a used tire retail shop.<ref name="wsbtv.com"/>

Some outside observers have speculated about the blame worthiness of both parties. Firestone tires being prone to tread separation and failure, and the SUVs being especially prone to rolling over if a tire fails at speed compared to other vehicles. A subsequent NHTSA investigation of real world accident data showed that the Ford Explorer SUVs in question were no more likely to roll over after a tread separation than any other SUV.{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}

Labour economists [[Alan Krueger]] and [[Alexandre Mas]] concluded that one of the main reasons for the high defect rate of Firestone tires was linked to a dispute between the unions and Firestone at the Decatur plant 1994{{En dash}}1996. They find that the tires manufactured at the plant in question around this time featured substantially increased defect rates, rising with the onset of the dispute and subsiding when the dispute was finally settled at the end of 1996. Other similar plants of Firestone did not report similar increases in the defect rate in this period.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Krueger|first1=Alan|last2=Mas|first2=Alexandre|date=2004|title=Strikes, Scabs and Tread Separations: Labor Strife and the Production of Defective Bridgestone/Firestone Tires|journal=The Journal of Political Economy|location=Chicago|volume=112/2|issue=2|pages=253–289|doi=10.1086/381479|jstor=10.1086/381479|s2cid=154713396 |url=http://www.nber.org/papers/w9524.pdf}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Harvey S. Firestone]]
* [[Firestone-Apsley Rubber Company]]
* [[Bridgestone]]
* [[Formula One tires]] <!-- this should be incorporated into the article when possible -->
* [[NTT IndyCar Series]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Firestone, Harvey Samuel, and Samuel Crowther. ''Men and rubber: The story of business'' (Doubleday, Page, 1926) [https://books.google.com/books?id=NJGEAAAAIAAJ&dq=%22Harvey+Firestone%22&pg=PA1 online]
* Knoll, Arthur J. "Harvey S. Firestone's Liberian Investment (1922–1932)." ''Liberian Studies Journal'' 14.1 (1989): 13–33. [https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/lsj/article/download/4122/3749/13212#page=17 online]
* Skrabec Jr, Quentin R. ''Rubber: An American Industrial History'' (McFarland, 2013).

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{official website|http://www.firestone.com}}
* [https://www.summitmemory.org/digital/search/searchterm/Century%20of%20Progress/field/all/mode/exact/conn/and/cosuppress Century of Progress] from the Summit Memory Project

{{Bridgestone Corporation}}
{{Automotive industry in the United States}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Firestone Tire And Rubber Company}}
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