Two weeks ago, Bridgestone and Firestone Inc., the company's U.S. unit, announced a recall of 6.5 million ATX and ATX II tires produced in North America and certain Wilderness AT tires that were manufactured at Firestone's Decatur, Illinois, plant. Most of the tires were mounted as original equipment on Ford Motor Co. sport-utility vehicles and light trucks, and a small batch were used for Mazda Motor Co. trucks. The recall will also affect a limited number of vehicles sold in Japan and other Asian markets. The U.S. National Highway Safety Administration is investigating tread separations on some Firestone models and 62 deaths and more than 100 injuries that could be linked to those tires.

The U.S. government also is investigating the safety of Firestone tires beyond the 6.5 million that have been recalled, opening the possibility of a broader recall. The panel's investigation includes all 47 million ATX, ATX II and Wilderness brands. Profit on a pretax, or recurring, basis dropped 11% to 78.73 billion yen in the six-month period ended June 30 from 87.95 billion yen in the 1999 period. Operating profit fell 7.6% to 94.31 billion yen from 102.09 billion yen.

Group sales slid 4.8% to 991.2 billion yen, mostly because the strong yen hurt profit on tire sales in the U.S. and Europe. Tire sales account for nearly 80% of Bridgestone's overall sales.

Bridgestone said the first-half charge will cover the estimated direct cost of the entire recall, but it's impossible to forecast what impact the recall will have on its overall business. "There's likely to be a bigger impact on earnings and our business in general, and that will show up in results for the latter half," said a company spokeswoman.

Bridgestone now expects group net profit of 67 billion yen for the full year, down from 88.69 billion yen in 1999, and substantially lower than the previous estimate for this year of 90 billion yen. The company also expects group sales of 2.05 trillion yen through December, a 1.7% decline from the previous year's sales, and predicts an 18% decline in pretax profits to 165 billion yen. Bridgestone revised its group earnings forecasts on Aug. 10 when it formally announced its U.S. recall.

Meanwhile, new NHTSA Administrator Sue Bailey, who came on the job Monday, wouldn't discuss specifics of the investigation but said, "If we feel there is a defect affecting safety, we will issue a recall.

Congress also is getting involved. House Commerce Committee Chairman Tom Bliley (R., Va.), said Thursday that he will send four committee staffers to Dearborn, Mich., on Friday to meet with Ford officials and review company documents related to the recall.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R., Ariz.) has scheduled a Sept. 6 hearing and plans to invite Ford and Bridgestone/Firestone officials to testify.