FIn the past, changing from winter to summer tires by hand was part of the more or less popular ritual for most car owners on a Saturday in spring. Then, in more and more new car models, the spare wheel was replaced by a temporary spare wheel, and later came puncture spray, which justified the rationalization of the car jack. Car owners who still wanted to change tires themselves often failed due to the sheer mass of oversized tires in 19 or 20 inch format. In the absence of compatibility between the wheel format and the intervertebral disc, the only way to go is to go to the workshop.
They usually charge around 40 to 50 euros for a wheel change and offer storage on the spot for a similar rate, because hardly anyone wants to balance the heavy things in the garage or basement. The costly two wheel changes per year therefore directs the eyes of the battered driver more towards all-season or all-weather tyres. Their sales have been rising steeply for years: While tire dealers and workshops sold six million units in 2011, it was almost eleven million last year, as determined by the Federal Association of Tire Trade and Vulcanizer Crafts. This put them in third place behind winter tires (16.3 million) and summer tires (12.7 million) in the annual volume of around 40 million passenger car tires. The proportion of all-season tires has increased slightly at the expense of winter tires.