But a replacement for chief executive Masatoshi Ono had not yet been decided, the sources said.

A spokesman for Firestone's Japanese parent, BridgestoneCorp, confirmed that a top management reshuffle was planned for Firestone but that details had not yet been decided.

Speculation has been rife that Mr Ono would be demoted in the wake of the recall of 6.5 million Firestone-brand tyres linked to dozens of US road deaths.

Bridgestone president Yoichiro Kaizaki was quoted as tellingthe Nikkei Business magazine that he will ask for Mr Ono's resignation. "We will let Mr Ono go," he was quoted as saying in the article published on Monday.

The Bridgestone spokesman said Mr Kaizaki did not tell the magazine that Mr Ono would be sacked. But he added, "Mr Kaizaki told the magazine that he wanted to talk with a new person (new chief executive) at Firestone."Mr Kaizaki also speculated that he too may be compelled to resign.

"I had originally planned to step down next March (when hiseight-year term as president ends) and I still hope to do so. But there are many cases where a scandal led management to resign, so it's unclear what will happen. It depends on future developments."

Mr Kaizaki also warned in the interview that the scandal could cause Firestone's annual sales to drop by $1.3 billion, including $350 million in lost sales to Ford Motor. The first figure represents 20 per cent of Firestone's overall tyre sales.

Bridgestone is one of the world's biggest tyre makers alongwith Michelin of France. Each held a 19.4 per cent global market share by volume in 1999.Similar reports about the resignation of the Firestone CEO were published in Japanese newspapers late last week, starting with an article on Friday in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun Financial daily saying that Bridgestone will demote Ono this month.

That report added it had not yet decided whether Bridgestonewould replace Mr Ono with one of its own executives from Tokyo or one of Firestone's five American directors.

At US Senate and House hearings last month, Mr Ono, who is also a Bridgestone executive vicepresident, accepted personal responsibility for Firestone's tyre recall.

On Tuesday, shares in Bridgestone ended down 3.98 per cent at 1,229 yen ($11.33), weighed down by jitters over recent developments in the recall saga. Last Friday, US highway safety investigators said they were expanding their probe of Firestone tyres to include the firm's Steeltex line of light truck tyres.

Firestone began recalling 6.5 million ATX, ATX II and some Wilderness tyres in August in response to mounting complaints of tread separations and blowouts now linked to more than 100 road deaths in the United States.