NHTSA Complaint #11711156 — 2025 NISSAN MURANO

My wife was driving the vehicle on [XXX] between Leesburg and Purcellville Virginia when a catastrophic tire failure occurred. The right front tire tread totally separated from the sidewall while driving at approximately 60 miles per hour. She told me that she saw the tire pressure warning light illuminate just before the tire failure. She could feel the immediate effect resulting in strong vibration and impact on maintaining control. Fortunately, she was in the right lane and had the presence of mind to pull off the road on to the shoulder. There was heavy traffic at that time and this incident could have resulted in loss of control of the vehicle and a collision. I had recently checked the tire pressures and they were all set correctly. She called me on her cellphone and I drove my car to meet her. I replaced the damaged tire/wheel with a temporary spare. I am a retired Technical Compliance Manager for Nissan where I was responsible for dealing with any safety issues on Nissan vehicles and ensuring compliance with NHTSA regulations. I inspected the failed tire very carefully and saw no evidence of a puncture. This appears to me to be a catastrophic failure due to a manufacturing defect. The failed tire is a Bridgestone 255/50R21 Alenza Sport A/S which is the factory-equipped tire. I lease this vehicle directly from Nissan North America as a retiree. I returned the vehicle to Priority Nissan in Chantilly Virginia to have the tire replaced. I also advised the service manager to report this incident to Nissan and save the tire for their inspection. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)