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Honda frets over recall
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August 21, 2000: 12:56 a.m. ET
Top exec concerned Firestone tire recall will damage company's rep
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Honda Motor Co. is "extremely worried" about the Firestone brand's overall reputation because of Bridgestone/Firestone Inc.'s massive recall of Firestone-brand tires earlier this month, a top executive of the car company told the Wall Street Journal Monday.
Hirohide Ikeno, president of Honda R&D Americas Inc., the Honda arm responsible for developing products for the U.S. market, told the Journal that the company is monitoring the situation at Firestone to determine whether it will continue to keep Firestone as a supplier of original tire equipment.
"We have not made up our mind in any way ... but it's a big source of concern," Ikeno said in the Journal's online edition.
 Bridgestone/Firestone on Aug. 9 recalled some 6.5 million of 15-inch ATX, ATX II and Wilderness AT tires, citing reports linking them to accidents, many fatal. Most of the tires were sold as original equipment on Ford Motor Co. (F: Research, Estimates)'s best-selling Explorer sport-utility vehicle, among other light trucks.
General Motors Corp. (GM: Research, Estimates) officials have since said the Firestone recall isn't likely to affect the auto maker's future tire-sourcing decisions. Ford's Chief Executive Jacques Nasser has, meanwhile, said the latest crisis may lead his company to diversify its tire-sourcing base for its vehicles in order to reduce its reliance on one maker for a given vehicle.
Shares of Ford rose 11/16 Friday to 27-3/4; GM stock gained 4-9/16 to 70. 
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Bridgestone/Firestone
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