Goldman downgrades Goodyear shares because of heavy tire discounting by dealers

A mechanic stacks used tires outside the service bay of a Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. auto garage in Shelbyville, Kentucky.
Luke Sharrett | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Goldman Sachs lowered its rating for Goodyear Tire & Rubber to neutral from buy, saying the company will have difficulty passing along its tire price increases to consumers this year.

The firm also removed the tiremaker from its Americas buy list.

"We see near-term pricing uncertainty, … our channel checks pointing to increasing rebate activity, we are cautious on the potential stickiness of recently announced price increases," analyst David Tamberrino wrote in a note to clients Thursday.