Many Dutch people go to the alpine areas in the spring for a winter sports holiday. There, tires with a winter tire characteristic (3PMS) are mandatory. Today, both winter tires and all season tires have this characteristic. Most drivers choose to change in October / November. In this way, they avoid long waiting times at garages and limited availability in the event of sudden weather deterioration. Because a winter sports holiday is not an option this year, the slopes are only open to the local population to a limited extent, and because the Dutch winters are becoming milder, only a limited number of motorists have had the tire change performed. Many winter sets are still in storage. But now that the weather has changed and the expectation that we will have a severe winter period at least until the end of February, a run has started on winter tires and all season tires.
Tires in Stock is a tire supplier for the garage. “By using an international stock of more than 30 million tires, we are able to supply just those tires that others do not have”.
We are now also seeing a huge increase in the demand for winter and all season tires. Importers already place their orders in March / April and if a specific tire is sold out in December, it can no longer be delivered. Tires in Stock also has stocks in, for example, Germany, Austria, Spain and Poland, and can therefore deliver such a tire in such a case. Companies now find us for sizes that are not so common and are no longer available in the Netherlands or Germany. 19 ”tires for Teslas, large SUVs such as the BMW X5 and X7, Audi Q5 and Q7 or the new Mercedes EQC. But within the more common sizes, we now also see gaps in availability. In addition, all-season tires are becoming increasingly popular. Also because these are better suited for the Dutch climate in combination with a week of skiing in the Alps. We are seeing more and more drivers who use all season tires in winter and switch back to summer tires in summer.
In 2017, relatively more drivers drove on winter tires. Due to the milder winters, this share is decreasing. The share of all season is increasing. 3 years ago, the mix between summer, winter and all season for sales within the Netherlands was: summer 59%, winter 28%, all seasons 13%. In 2020 this was: summer 67%, winter 16%, all seasons 17%.
Winter tires continue to perform at a much lower temperature due to a softer compound, but wear out faster in warm weather. All season tires are a better alternative for the Netherlands in winter conditions, it is a nice compromise between summer and winter tires, but not a 100% replacement for a summer tire in warm weather.
Tires in Stock Europe BV has been active since 2010 as a supplier to the tire and garage business. Customers include chains such as Euromaster and Profile Tire Center, as well as small garages and large dealer holdings. With branches in France and Poland and sales in almost the entire EU, a network has been built up whereby the stocks of the major importers and distributors are available to their customers.
