s world profit picture. Roughly 60% of Bridgestone's North American profits came from the sale of heavy-duty truck tires. Firestone has a 16% share of that market, and the Bridgestone brand holds another 6.5 percent share.Another strength for Firestone is its well-established brand name. According to an Automotive News reporter, the Firestone brand is "positioned in such a way that even a major decline in its original-equipment automotive business would not necessarily sink it" (Chappell, 09/11/00). This fact is essential to the survival of the company should the Firestone tire business disappear as a result of the current recall fiasco.Bridgestone/Firestone has also signed a new deal with Honda of America Manufacturing Inc. Firestone has previously supplied approximately 75 percent of the tires to be put on the Honda Civics manufactured in Ohio and Alliston, Ontario. Dunlop Tire Corporation supplied the other 25 percent. The new deal will equip all new Civics from those plants with Firestone tires. Not only does this add to Bridgestone/Firestone's revenues, but it also shows that Honda has confidence in Firestone's ability to produce quality tires (Chappell, 09/15/00).Bridgestone/Firestone also has a deal with Saturn Corporation to equip every Saturn with Firestone tires. Some Saturn dealers say that customers have asked about the recall but that customers have not stopped buying them because of the recall. A spokeswoman for Saturn says that they are not even considering choosing a different supplier. This, along with the Honda deal and a strong commitment to Toyota helps Bridgestone/Firestone's image in that it shows that Firestone's non-Ford customers have faith in the Firestone brand (Chappell, 09/11/00).Another important strength for Bridgestone/Firestone is the fact that they have survived another big recall in the past. In 1978, the National Highway Traffic Safety Admininstration forced the company, then know as Fir...
