Ford Perspective on Explorer Safety and the Firestone Tire Recall

                Firestone Asks NHTSA to Open an Investigation
           Into the Safety of Certain Models of the Ford Explorer.

    DETROIT, May 31 "You can talk about testing data
endlessly.  We are replacing Firestone Wilderness AT tires because they have
elevated rates of tread separation in the real world.  Real world data also
show the Explorer is among the safest vehicles on the road."

    "Ford has performed extensive testing of vehicle and tire interaction with
Ford and other vehicles and various tires, including Firestone tires.  The
Explorer performs the same as competitive SUV's before, during and after a
tread separation.  This problem does not exist with Goodyear tires.  Ford
submitted this detailed information to NHTSA and Firestone in March."

    John M. Rintamaki
    Chief of Staff
    Ford Motor Company


    Note:  last August, President and CEO Jacques Nasser gave Mr. Rintamaki
           company-wide responsibility for leading the tire team at Ford.

    *  U.S. Department of Transportation data demonstrates that the occupant
       fatality rate for Explorer for all types of accidents is 1.1 per
       100 million miles of travel, compared with 1.3 fatalities per
       100 million miles for other compact SUVs, and 1.5 fatalities per
       100 million miles for passenger cars.

    *  In other words, the Explorer fatality rate is 27 percent lower than
       passenger cars overall and 17 percent lower than other SUVs according
       to government statistics.