Michelin suspends OnSite mobile tire program

GREENVILLE, S.C. (Nov. 29, 2016) — Michelin North America Inc. has suspended its OnSite mobile retail tire purchasing/installation pilot program, which it launched in the Raleigh-Durham, N.C., market in August 2015.

Designed to enable consumers to buy tires online or by phone and have them installed at a time and location of their choice, the program was “one of several concepts” developed as part of Michelin's global R&D group to “identify and test new business models,” the tire maker said at the time the program launched.

A Michelin spokesperson said that while the company has decided to suspend the program after a year, “we will continue to evaluate future possibilities, as the test revealed a number of interesting options.”

Michelin did not disclose an official reason for shutting down the program — which never expanded beyond the Raleigh-Durham area — but the spokesperson did note Michelin was “disappointed that unit volumes did not meet expectations.”

However, he said, “we're pleased with the enthusiastic response we received from consumers who want a concierge approach to purchasing tires.”

The spokesperson added that the test program was not impacted by Michelin's online tire sales solution for its BFGoodrich brand, which the company announced in August of this year.

According to an article in the Greenville, S.C.-based Upstate Business Journal, a Michelin representative spoke at a recent meeting for the Carolinas chapter of the Product Development and Management Association, saying that the company was unable to validate the business model and citing the lack of brand variety as a problem.

In addition to tire replacement, Michelin OnSite offered consumers a variety of mobile automotive services, such as TPMS maintenance, precision balancing, nitrogen inflation, wheel cleaning and used tire disposal.

Go Tire Inc.,  the company franchising a mobile tire-fitting business in Canada, oversaw the design and outfitting of the full-size panel van Michelin used for the program, according Craig Howes, co-founder of the Calgary, Alberta-based bu