All-season tires accounted for about 36% of Germany's replacement tire unit sales in 2024, up from just under 14% in 2016, according to the German tire dealers association BRV. Over the same eight years the winter tire share fell from about 50% to 38% and the summer share from about 36% to 26%, so the gain came out of both seasonal categories, not only one.
The shift did not stop in 2025. BRV reported that car all-season units rose 6.1% while summer units fell 4.0% and winter units fell 7.8%, in a total replacement market of about 46.6 million tires that shrank 1.9%. Consumer tires for cars and vans made up about 44.1 million of that total. Applying those changes to the 2024 shares puts all-season at an estimated 38.9% of the market in 2025, ahead of winter at about 35.7%. If that estimate holds, 2025 was the first year in which all-season tires outsold winter tires in Germany.
All-season gained 22 percentage points in eight years while winter lost 12
BRV publishes season-type shares for the German replacement business each spring. Lined up, the releases show a steady climb with no reversal. All-season tires held just under 14% in 2016. By 2019 they had reached about 20% of car and 4x4 tire sales, then about 24.5% in 2020, about 27% in 2021, a little over 33% in 2023 and just under 36% in 2024.
The pandemic year accelerated the trend. In 2020 the total replacement market fell about 11% to roughly 47.4 million tires, yet car all-season units rose 7.3% to about 9.7 million. Winter car tires fell 18.4% to about 17.2 million and summer car tires fell 15% to about 12.5 million. Drivers who replaced tires in a down year increasingly chose one set instead of two.
In 2021 the pattern repeated: car all-season units rose 11.5% to about 10.8 million, winter units fell 5.1% to about 16.3 million and summer units rose 1.8% to about 12.7 million. For light commercial vehicles the all-season share was already about 38% in 2021, higher than for cars, which shows how quickly fleet buyers adopted the format.
| Year | All-season | Winter | Summer | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | ~14% | ~50% | ~36% | BRV comparison year |
| 2019 | ~20% | ~47% | ~33% | Car/4x4 tires |
| 2020 | ~24.5% | ~44% | ~32% | Car/4x4 tires |
| 2021 | ~27% | ~41% | ~32% | Car/4x4 tires |
| 2023 | ~33% | 38.5% | 28.5% | BRV, March 2025 release |
| 2024 | ~36% | 38% | ~26% | BRV, March 2025 release |
| 2025 (estimate) | 38.9% | 35.7% | 25.4% | Radial Insights, from BRV unit changes |
Two caveats apply. BRV did not publish season shares for 2022 in its release text, and the 2019-2021 figures cover car and 4x4 tires only, while later years are BRV's headline shares for the replacement market. Neither changes the direction: across every published point, all-season gained and winter lost.
The 2024 snowflake deadline lifted winter sales once, then winter units fell 7.8% in 2025
A regulatory deadline explains the one year in which winter tires grew. Under the transitional provision in section 52 of the German Road Traffic Regulations (StVO), tires marked only M+S and made no later than 31 December 2017 counted as winter tires only until 30 September 2024. From October 2024 a tire needs the Alpine snowflake symbol to meet Germany's situational winter tire requirement.
The deadline pulled demand forward. In 2024 car winter tire units rose 6.4% and the total replacement market grew 6.8% to just under 47.5 million tires, while car summer units slipped 1.9%. Car all-season units still grew fastest, at 17.0%, because modern all-season tires carry the snowflake symbol and were an obvious replacement for older M+S sets.
The payback came in 2025. BRV attributes the 7.8% drop in car winter units, and a 4.2% drop in van tire units, mainly to that pre-buying. Car all-season growth slowed to 6.1%, the weakest of the last three years after 11.6% in 2023 and 17.0% in 2024, but it was the only product group in the consumer segment that grew at all.
All-season likely outsold winter in Germany in 2025, at an estimated 38.9% versus 35.7%
BRV's March 2026 release gives unit changes for 2025 but not updated shares. We applied the car-tire changes for each season type to the 2024 shares and rescaled to 100%. The result is about 38.9% all-season, 35.7% winter and 25.4% summer. As a check, the same arithmetic implies a total car market change of about -1.8%, close to the -1.9% BRV reported for car tires, which suggests the estimate is internally consistent.
In volume terms, chaining BRV's car all-season growth rates from the 10.8 million units reported for 2021 gives roughly 15.3 million car all-season tires in 2025, an increase of about 41% in four years. Germany's car parc kept growing at the same time, to about 49.5 million cars on 1 January 2026 from 49.3 million a year earlier, according to Destatis. A larger parc with flat total tire demand means the mix shift, not market growth, is what is moving all-season volumes.
BRV's forecast for 2026 points the same way at a slower pace: consumer volumes down 2.2%, with all-season up 2.2%, summer down 4.3% and winter down 5.3%. On our arithmetic that would lift the all-season share to roughly 40.6%. The association attached a clear caveat: the forecast assumes that the Middle East crisis eases within about two months, and a longer crisis could cut volumes further.
Across Europe, all-season grew 15% in Q2 2026 while summer fell 2%
Germany is the clearest case, but sales data from Tyres Europe (the former ETRMA) shows the same direction for its members across Europe. For full-year 2024 consumer replacement volumes rose 5% to about 223.2 million units, with all-season up 16%, winter up 7% and summer down 2%. In 2025 consumer volumes fell about 2% to roughly 224.1 million units against a revised 2024 base, with all-season up 5% and summer down 7%.
The most recent release, published on 5 August 2026, shows the gap widening again. In Q2 2026 consumer volumes rose 3%, all-season rose 15%, summer fell 2% and winter fell 1%. For the first half of 2026 consumer volumes were up 2%, all-season up 9% and winter down 5%.
Company reporting points the same way only indirectly. In its nine-month update of 20 October 2026, Michelin said MICHELIN-brand replacement volumes were up 4% at the end of September and that the brand overperformed in 18-inch and larger tires. The company did not break out all-season volumes, so the link is directional rather than measured.
Distributors, tire makers and OEMs face a two-set market turning into a one-set market
The shift from two seasonal sets to one all-year set changes who earns what in the replacement chain. The effects differ by buyer group.
Tire makers. Each driver who switches to all-season buys one set where they used to buy two, so volume per car falls over a full replacement cycle even if the all-season tire sells at a higher price. Makers with strong all-season ranges in larger rim sizes are better placed; makers dependent on winter volumes in Germany face a structural headwind on top of the 2025 payback. Capacity planning for winter-specific compounds and tread patterns should assume a lower German base. See our Europe all-season tires market report for segment sizing.
Distributors and dealers. Every car that moves from two seasonal sets to one all-season set removes two changeover appointments a year and one stored set from the dealer's service business. BRV data shows dealers are holding their position for now: tire specialists and independent workshops took 72.5% of car tire sales in 2025, up from 71.3%, B2C online stayed at 5.5%, and the average dealer return on sales rose to 1.6% from 1.4%. The service mix will need to move toward alignment, repairs and general auto services, where BRV members reported revenue growth of 9.4% in 2025.
OEMs. The German replacement data shows owners choosing all-season tires in growing numbers when they pay for tires themselves. That is evidence OEMs can use when deciding fitment for volume models sold in Germany, and van makers have the clearest signal, with the all-season share for light commercial tires already about 38% in 2021.
Raw-material buyers and investors. For compound and raw-material buyers the change is in specification as much as volume: fewer separate summer and winter tread grades and more all-season grades that must also earn the snowflake symbol. Investors tracking German volumes should separate the one-off 2024 winter spike from the trend line; read in isolation, the 7.8% winter decline in 2025 overstates the structural loss. For country context see our Germany tire market report, and for the broader aftermarket our replacement tires market report. The Europe summer tires market report covers the category losing the most share.
Methodology and sources
Season-type shares for Germany come from BRV's annual press releases on the replacement business. BRV's shares are rounded ("about", "just under") in the source; we report them as published. Shares for 2019-2021 are for car and 4x4 tires; 2016, 2023 and 2024 are the shares BRV states in its March 2025 release. The 2025 shares are a Radial Insights estimate: 2024 shares multiplied by BRV's 2025 car unit changes for each season type, then rescaled to 100%. Car all-season volumes for 2022-2025 are chained from BRV's reported 2021 volume and annual growth rates. All calculations were reproduced in Python. European figures are sales by Tyres Europe member companies and are not directly comparable with BRV's estimates of the German market.
- BRV, Reifenersatzgeschäft 2020 in Deutschland (14 March 2021): 2020 market size, car unit and share data by season, 2019 comparison shares.
- BRV, Reifenersatzgeschäft 2021 in Deutschland (21 March 2022): 2021 car and van units and shares by season.
- BRV, Reifenersatzgeschäft 2022 in Deutschland (17 March 2023): 2022 market size and all-season growth.
- BRV, Reifenhandel 2024: Im Schnitt ein gutes Jahr (20 March 2025): 2016, 2023 and 2024 season shares, 2024 unit changes, channel shares.
- BRV, Reifenhandel trotzt der Krise (30 March 2026): 2025 market size, unit changes by season, channel shares, dealer returns, 2026 forecast.
- German Road Traffic Regulations (StVO), section 52: M+S transitional rule ending 30 September 2024.
- Destatis press release N050 (22 July 2026): German car stock on 1 January 2025 and 2026.
- Tyres Europe, Replacement tyre market recovery broadens in Q2 2026 (5 August 2026): Q2 and H1 2026 changes by season type.
- European Rubber Journal (31 January 2025) and European Rubber Journal (6 February 2026): Tyres Europe full-year 2024 and 2025 data as reported. Q1 2025 data from European Rubber Journal (12 May 2025).
- Michelin, financial information at 30 September 2026 (20 October 2026): MICHELIN-brand replacement volumes and 18-inch-plus performance.
Frequently Asked Questions
About 36% in 2024, up from just under 14% in 2016, according to BRV. Our estimate for 2025 is 38.9%.
Probably yes: applying BRV's 2025 unit changes to 2024 shares gives about 38.9% all-season versus 35.7% winter. BRV has not published official 2025 shares.
7.8% is the drop in car winter units, which BRV links mainly to pre-buying in 2024. M+S-only tires made by 31 December 2017 stopped counting as winter tires after 30 September 2024.
Car all-season units rose 11.6% in 2023, 17.0% in 2024 and 6.1% in 2025. BRV forecasts 2.2% growth for 2026.
Yes: Tyres Europe reported all-season volumes up 15% in Q2 2026 while summer fell 2% and winter fell 1%. For full-year 2024 all-season grew 16%.
About 46.6 million car, van and truck tires in 2025, down 1.9% from 2024. The consumer segment was about 44.1 million units.