Nokian Tyres breaks ground on Romania factory

Nokian Tyres has initiated work on its Oradea, Romania passenger car tyre factory, billed as the tyre industry’s first zero CO2 emission plant. An event marking the groundbreaking was attended by the Prime Minister of Romania, Nicolae Ciucă. The President of the Bihor County Council, Ilie Bolojan, and other high-level Romanian and Finnish officials also participated along with the chair of Nokian Tyres’s board of directors Jukka Hienonen. The first tyres are estimated to be produced in the second half of 2024. Commercial tyre production is expected to start in early 2025.

The greenfield factory is being built in the North-West of Romania in the city of Oradea, an important regional and European hub of many transport routes. The total investment is estimated to be approximately 650 million euros, which is among the largest in Romania in recent years. Nokian Tyres is waiting for the final decision from EU for its EU funding application for some EUR 100 million, which the Romanian government already approved earlier this year.

The annual capacity of the factory will be 6 million tyres, with the company pointing to “expansion potential in the future”. The factory will concentrate on the production of larger rim size passenger and SUV tyres that will be “primarily sold in the Central European market”. The site will also house a distribution facility for storage and distribution of tyres. The combined built-up area totals some 100,000 m2.

The groundbreaking event was attended by the Prime Minister of Romania, Nicolae Ciucă (Photo: Valokuvaaja/Nokian Tyres)

“Central Europe is an important market for us, and the investment shows our commitment to the market. The new site will be strategically located close to our customers. After a thorough evaluation of over 40 locations and several factors, such as skilled workforce availability, logistical advantages, and stable business environment, it was clear that Oradea was the best choice for our new factory,” says Adrian Kaczmarczyk, SVP, Supply Operations.

The planned headcount of the Romanian factory is about 500 people. Nokian Tyres plans to hire people both for production as well as managerial positions. Recruitment will accelerate in 2024 and continue until the full workforce of the factory has been hired and the factory starts its operations.

“We will cooperate with the local schools in Oradea to provide the right type of training to our future employees. In the beginning, we will utilize the in-house knowledge and the experience we obtained when we built our factory in the US. We will bring some 20–25 people from Finland to Oradea to help set-up the factory,” says Adrian Kaczmarczyk, SVP, Supply Operations.

Targeting 15 million tyre capacity by 2027

In addition to building a new passenger car tyre factory nn Oradea, Nokian Tyres continues to increase capacity at the existing factories in Finland and the US and grow contract manufacturing. Nokian Tyres aims to build a global capacity of 15 million tyres by 2027.

“This investment is a significant strategic step enabling our future growth and development. A world-class manufacturing facility in Europe is a key step in getting additional capacity and creating a balanced manufacturing platform as we build the new Nokian Tyres,” says Jukka Moisio, president and CEO of Nokian Tyres.

“We are very proud to build the first zero CO2 emission factory in the tire industry. This means for instance that energy used at the factory comes from renewable sources and steam needed for the tire manufacturing process is generated fully without fossil fuels. The site location in Romania supports the target as we can utilize green energy produced near the site. We are committed to building a sustainable and competitive tire production facility”.