Goodyear defends itself against accident allegations

In a four-part series of articles in the French newspaper “Le Monde”, the paper claims to have revealed that the US tire manufacturer Goodyear was to blame for a series of truck accidents between 2012 and 2014 due to defective truck tires manufactured in Luxembourg.

“Le Monde” also takes aim at authorities in Luxembourg. French authorities and courts have also been slow to deal with this problem.

Articles peppered with internal documents

In its articles, the French daily quotes from internal emails and secret spreadsheets and reveals hidden strategies and numbers. Documents that were given to Le Monde by two informants, according to the article L’affaire Goodyear.

These are all elements that would affect many European countries and that are intended to document “a global scandal with serious consequences”: “Goodyear is accused of failing to warn the public about possible manufacturing defects affecting tens of thousands of tires manufactured in Luxembourg and for numerous Accidents are the cause,” said the newspaper in the first of the four articles.

According to the daily newspaper’s research, the company is said to have discreetly compensated dozens of accident victims in the 2010s while demanding their silence.

Transparent tire replacement program

Regarding the allegations and reporting, the company told the “Luxemburger Wort” that “nothing is more important to Goodyear than the safety and quality of its products and the people who use them.”

Ten years ago, the company “proactively initiated a program to replace a specific category of truck tires sold at the time in response to market feedback.”

This program was “carried out rigorously and transparently in coordination with the relevant authorities” to replace as many tires as possible.

“Goodyear would like to clarify that none of its latest generation product lines were subject to the above-mentioned replacement program that was implemented ten years ago,” the statement concludes.

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