Nokian Initiates Chinese Manufacturing Contract

Nokian Tyres and Giti Tire (China) have signed an offtake agreement which will see Giti Tire manufacture passenger car tyres on Nokian’s behalf. Based in Shanghai, Giti Tire is one of the biggest producers in China and is part of the Indonesian Gajah Tunggal group.

The companies’ co-operation will start with Nokian branded passenger car summer tyres. According to the company, the majority of these will be bound for the North American market. Production is due to begin in October. The company says the 2005 is 500,000 tyres and that it expects to increase to the volume gradually up to 1.5 million tyres.

The agreement represents Nokian’s first venture in China. Although Nokian doesn’t have any other production capacity in the People’s Republic, it does have an additional offtake agreement with GT Radial in Indonesia.