Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire has agreed to pay $240 million to Ford Motor Co. to settle claims related to the tiremaker’s 2000 recall of defective tires, Bridgestone Firestone said Wednesday.

Bridgestone Firestone, the North American unit of Japan’s Bridgestone Corp., and Ford reached a settlement that will help cover the costs of the automaker’s 2001 tire-replacement program.

At least 271 people were reported killed and hundreds more injured in accidents involving Firestone ATX and AT tires, and the maker recalled 6.5 million of them.