Ford Motor Co. will stop using P235/70R1616-size General Ameri 550 AS tires as replacements for Firestone tires. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently announced that the General Ameri model reported tread failures of 124 per million, well in excess of the 9 failures per million of the recalled Firestone Wilderness AT.

Continental Tire, manufacturer of the General Ameri, claims that the failure rate is greatly exaggerated. The company claims that NHTSA's action is "politically motivated" and based on factual inaccuracies.

During the summer of 2001, NHTSA opened an investigation into eleven replacement brands used by Ford. The inquiry followed an announcement by House Commerce Committee Chairman W. J. "Billy" Tauzin (R., La.) that four of the models had higher tread separation rates than the Firestone tires they were meant to replace.