Goodyear to close 92 U.S. stores, cut jobs

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co said it would close 12 percent, or 92, of its company-owned U.S. stores and cut 600 full- and part-time jobs as the U.S. economic downturn put more pressure on the company.

"In the current economic condition, people are driving less and it obviously affects every facet of the U.S. auto industry, including how often they replace tires or buy new cars," Goodyear spokesman Keith Price said on Tuesday after the announcement.

"The current economic condition further impacted the stores, but they were not performing well before this year. And we don't expect them to perform well," Price said. Goodyear owns 742 stores in the United States.

Goodyear, the largest tire maker in the United States by sales, said it would take after-tax charges of about $30 million in connection with the closings, half of which would be recorded in the third quarter.

The company said the closings would enable it to eliminate $9 million in annual losses.

In July, Goodyear said it was confident it would be able to navigate the near-term economic challenges, especially in North America. At that time, the company said second-quarter net income rose to $75 million, or 31 cents per share, from $56 million, or 26 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 6.5 percent to $5.24 billion.

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN1932824420080819?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews

out from under me at highway speeds and they refused to honor their warranty. I bought a better brand and a month later got a recall notice for the crappy ones that exploded. They would not give me any money because I replaced them before the recall. F em