Nokian’s minimalist Reifen stand strikes premium pose

The inventor of the winter tyre, Finland’s Nokian Tyres had a stand in Hall Three that was striking for its minimalist, expressionistic Nordic feel… and because it had only one tyre model displayed on its stand. The tyre it did show was, as it would have to be, special: the Hakkapeliitta 7 studded tyre (255/35R20 97 T XL) was fitted to Nokian’s world record-setting modified Audi RS-6, driven by the company’s test driver Janne Laitinen, which travelled at 331,610km/h on the Gulf of Bothnia in Oulu, Finland. The tyre also made history in 2012 on the E-RA electric car built by students at the Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences that Laitinen also drove at record ice speeds – 252.09 km/h. Despite these feats, the tyre is the regular production model, sold mainly across the Nordic region and Russia, where the brand is number one in terms of “recognition and appreciation”.

The bold, statement stand was, in the words of product development manager Sven Dittmann, designed to make the company “different from competitors” in the manufacturer-heavy Hall Three, with suggestive tyre-shaped seating areas surrounding large table touchscreens for visitors to access presentations on the company’s products. Visitors looking for tyres were automatically drawn to the solitary vehicle on the stand, and the relative normality of the world speed record setting RS-6 – “a second-hand car”, says Dittmann – allowed Nokian to emphasise how important the tyres had been to driving in extreme icy conditions. In this way, Nokian projected plenty of corporate identity imagery and emphasised the high performance of its tyres with minimal rubber on display.

Driving Safety Indicator

Dittmann talked Tyres & Accessories through a new innovation that the company was communicating through its many presentation screens – the new Driving Safety Indicator (DSI) system, an aquaplaning warning indicator and its relative snowflake symbol for winter safety (WSI).

Available on the Nokian WR winter tyre, the DSI takes the form of numbers from eight to two millimetres, stamped onto the centre rib of the tyre. As the numbers fade, they will show the remaining groove depth. The aquaplaning warning indicator is in the form of droplet symbol within the tread depth indicator, disappearing with four millimetres of tread remaining, and intended to indicate an increased risk. When the WSI snowflake disappears, also at four millimetres, driving risk increases and the winter tyres should be replaced.

Labelling concerns

As with most premium tyre manufactrers, Dittmann told T&A that Nokian believes labelling to be “generally speaking, positive for consumers lacking information”. As a technological leader in winter tyres, the company is frostier about the impact on cold weather products, which could suffer in comparison with summer tyres. Dittmann stresses the “importance of proper sales techniques” in conjunction with the small amount of information presented on the label.

He contrasted the three performance indicators with the “more than 10 disciplines in ADAC tests” – Nokian continues to perform well in such tests for both winter and summer products – and “more than 50 in [Nokian] product development”. Exemplifying this is the stringent slush testing Nokian performs on its winter tyres that resulted in particular commendation in European tests for its WR winter tyres, which provide better protection against slush-planing and the strongest grip on ice, snow and wet surfaces. Slush driving is, according to Nokian, the most dangerous driving situation for German car drivers in the winter. Nokian summer tyres are also test winners in the German car magazines’ summer tyre tests, 2012; with eight wins in recent tyre tests, the Finnish company won more tests than any other brand.

It is probably not much of a surprise that Nokian has yet to publish any labelling information; Dittmann reasoned that the company had decided to present “complete information for all products and models at once” and predicted that this would be available in July.

Speaking of recent information, Dittmann said that Nokian felt comfortable with the 16-17 million tyres it produces each year, saying that the benefits of being a smaller company than other premium brands include the comparative ease of introducing new materials and products, such as the latest Hakkapeliitta Truck D – its newest winter tyre for freight and bus traffic on long journeys, now available in size 315/80R22.5. Nokian was also the first tyre company to establish the use of only purified, low aromatic oils in its production line. Nokian achieved a turnover of 1.456 billion euros in 2011 and had 3900 employees. The Vianor tyre retail chain, with over 930 outlets in 24 countries, also belongs to the company.