German Parliament passes winter tyre law

ERJ staff report (DS)

Bonn, Germany -- The Upper House of the German Parliament has today adopted an amendment to the German Road Traffic Regulations. Under specified circumstances winter tyres will be mandatory in Germany: In case of “ice, packed snow, slush, black ice or frost” vehicles will only be permitted on the roads if they are equipped with winter or all-weather tyres bearing specific identifying marks.

Previously the law required only that vehicles were fitted with tyres suitable for the conditions, which was sufficiently vague to be almost meaningless.

There is no mandatory period across the country as weather conditions vary widely in different regions. Also, a parked vehicle is not subject to the new ruling

The rule applies to cars and vans. Trucks need winter tyres on the drive axle, though other axles may carry regular tyres. Agricultural and forestry vehicles are exempt.s

The penalties for breaking the law are doubled to euro 40 from euro 20.

A DEKRA survey showed 93 percent of 1700 motorists who were asked, were in favour of the new rule.

Even though more than 80% of car owners in Germany already regularly change the tyres on their vehicles as the cold weather approaches, an additional surge in demand can be expected in the coming weeks. The new regulation is expected to come into force before Christmas.

As a result, on-line tyre retailer Delticom has revised upwards its revenue and earnings targets.

Delticom said, “Winter weather conditions not only in Germany but also elsewhere in Europe have boosted sales volume over the past few days. In addition, Delticom has been able to benefit from short dated supplementary delivery promises which helped the availability of winter tyres in the companies' online shops. Against the background of market-wide scarcity of winter tyres Delticom now anticipates 2010 revenue growth of more than 20% year-on-year (previously: at least 15%) at an EBIT margin of around 10% (previously: 9%).”

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Press release from German Transport Ministry (German language)

Above Press release auto-translated into English (from German language)

Press release from Delticom