Goodyear testing mobile tire service in Calif., N.C.

AKRON — Goodyear has launched a mobile tire-fitting service, Goodyear Mobile Tire Shop, in Los Angeles and Orange County, Calif., and Raleigh, N.C., in order to evaluate the efficacy of this tire-servicing alternative.

The program, operated by Goodyear's company-owned retail network, is known as "Goodyear Home Install" on the Goodyearautoservice.com website.

The Mobile Tire Shop vans are Dodge ProMasters outfitted by Custom Upfits, a West Sacramento, Calif.-based family business that specializes in truck and trailer conversions.

In a prepared statement, Goodyear said it is "extending its mobile fleet solutions to passenger vehicles in a limited amount of markets" with company-owned retail stores and where its partner in semi-autonomous vehicle research, Tesloop Inc., is active.

"We are always looking for ways to make Goodyear easy to buy and own but have no plans to make these programs widely available to consumers at this time," the company added.

Goodyear is the third tire maker to test the mobile tire-fitting waters, after Michelin North America Inc. and Bridgestone Americas.

Michelin trialed the business option in 2015 in the Raleigh-Durham, N.C., area but suspended the trial 15 months later. It did, however, note it would "continue to evaluate future possibilities, as the test revealed a number of interesting options."

Bridgestone's service, which operates under the firm's Firestone Complete Auto Care banner, is limited thus far to the Nashville area and allows customers to order tires and have them delivered directly to their home or place of business.