Reluctant to antagonize their biggest customer, Firestone officials have said little to question this.

Bridgestone has been negotiating with Firestone officials at its corporate headquarters in Chicago for the last week, officials of both companies said.

When Firestone officials learned of Ford's analysis from a newspaper article on Friday, they were angry.

Firestone officials criticized the report, saying it overstated problems with the tires.

For their part, Firestone officials have been loath to direct blame at their largest customer.

Firestone officials said today that the recall had hurt sales but noted that they also faced other problems.

Firestone officials declined to comment on whether they felt new tire regulations were needed.

Firestone officials have not responded to the Pirelli bid, but the company has said it will have a response by next Friday.

Firestone officials said Pirelli's offer killed the initial plan with Bridgestone.

Firestone officials have emphasized that almost all of the tire-related deaths occurred in Explorer sport utility vehicles that rolled over.