The General tyre's safety has been thrown into question

Ford is in the middle of a massive 13.4 million tyre recall on Ford Explorer models, some of which have been involved in rollover accidents that have killed over 200 people and injured many more.

In response to the NHTSA's objection to the General Ameri 550 AS, Ford has said it was removing the tyre from its replacement list.

Ford vice president of environmental and safety engineering Susan Cischke said in a statement the 16-inch General tyre had met all Ford's requirements for use as a replacement on Ford Explorer vehicles.

"Nevertheless, to alleviate any customer confusion, we have removed this tyre from our approved tyre replacement list," she said, pending an investigation by the NHTSA.

Federal Officials have reportedly told Firestone that the company needs to recall an additional four million tyres for safety problems.

Congressional testimony

Ford officials were blindsided last month during testimony before the House of Representatives, when it was announced congressional research had revealed some of the tyres replacing Firestone Wilderness AT models were also failing at high rates.

At the time, House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Billy Tauzin refused to disclose the brand name or model of the similarly defective tyre.

House members also criticised the Ford recall campaign, calling it more of a public relations scheme than a public safety issue.