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

By Soyoung Kim

DETROIT (Reuters) - 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.