Low price segment for tires surges forward . - A broad spectrum of industries has experienced the significance of the “low price” segment over the past years. The resulting increase in expenditures in this seg-ment is often staggering. In German domestic air travel alone discount carriers have already captured over 40% of the market. It is, therefore, of little surprise that the trend is also quite evident in the market of passenger car tires. Over the past few years massive numbers of tire offers from the Far East have inundated Germany.