Nokian Tyres
Nokian Tyres has been selected for Dow Jones’ DJSI World sustainability index. With a total sustainability score nearly twice as high as the industry average, Nokian Tyres significantly improved its results in the 2017 assessment. Nokian Tyres’ score of 78 points was only one point behind the industry’s highest-scoring company globally.
This autumn will see the market launch of Nokian Tyres’ second generation of HTS terminal tyres. The Finnish manufacturer says the new Nokian HTS G2 has been designed to be “even more rugged, efficient and safe,” and it reports that tests “confirm that Nokian has succeeded in all these areas.”
GKN Wheels & Structures has developed a brand-new wheel for its Profi-line+ range, with this new product designed specifically to suit the new Nokian CT tyres which were introduced to the market earlier this year.
Featuring a double well radius, new flange design and a wider bead, the wheel design has been optimised to meet the very specific requirements of the new heavy duty, high load-bearing CT tyres from Nokian.
The new E-Truck range from Nokian Tyres will come to market this autumn and be available in “the most common European truck and bus tyre sizes,” the tyre maker reports. Steer, drive and trailer fitments will be offered, and a line of retreading materials, Nokian E-tread, will complement the E-Truck range.
Under a new partnership with NFL Canada, Nokian Tyres has become the official sponsor of the National Football League in Canada through to Super Bowl LIV in 2020.
Net sales were up at Nokian Tyres in the first quarter of 2017 as was, despite increased raw material costs, net profit. Andrei Pantioukhov, the tyre maker’s interim president and chief executive officer, declared that Nokian Tyres “had a strong start of the year” and “demonstrated strong performance in all our main market areas.”
Following Nokian Tyre’s Annual General Meeting, on 10 April 2017, the company’s board of directors held an organisational meeting in which Petteri Walldén was elected chairman of the Board and Tapio Kuula was elected deputy chairman of the board.
As of 1 June 2017 Hille Korhonen will be Nokian Tyres’s new president and chief executive office.
Hille Korhonen has more than 20 years of experience in international consumer business. Before joining Nokian Tyres, Korhonen was member of the executive team of Fiskars Oyj Abp (2008–2012) and Iittala corporation (2003–2008) as well as CEO of Alko Oy from 2013. Korhonen has been member of the board of Nokian Tyres plc since 2006.
George Rietbergen (who was formerly Goodyear Dunlop’s UK and Ireland managing director before becoming the firm’s group’s vice president Commercial EMEA and then managing director, DACH) has been nominated to the board of Nokian Tyres.
Arctic Trucks, the Icelandic company that helped the Top Gear team drive to the North Pole in a Toyota Hilux ten years ago, has teamed up with Nokian Tyres to produce a new tyre for extreme winter conditions, the Nokian Hakkapeliitta 44. Production of the size LT475/70 R17 tyre will begin in the next few months, and it will be exclusively available through Arctic Trucks.
As of 1 February, Timo Tervolin will take over global responsibility for Process Development at Nokian Tyres. Tervolin, who currently serves as vice-president of Strategy and Corporate Development, succeeds Alexej von Bagh, who is leaving the company. In a statement, Nokian Tyres thanked von Bagh for his “long-term service and all his efforts toward the company.”
The next generation of Nokian Hakkapeliitta studded winter tyres will come to market in time for winter 2017-18. Nokian writes that these new flagship products, the Nokian Hakkapeliitta 9 car tyre and Nokian Hakkapeliitta 9 SUV ranges, feature new stud technology.
Nokian Tyres is introducing a new range for the coming winter. It describes this addition to its product portfolio, the Nokian WR A4, as a “premium winter tyre” and “the ultimate weather master.” The WR A4 carries the 3PMSF ‘snowflake’ marking and will be available in 51 sizes for 16 to 21-inch rim diameters and speed ratings from H up to W, including XL load capacity and run-flat versions.
Nokian Tyres’ president and CEO Ari Lehtoranta has resigned in order to “pursue new opportunities outside of Nokian Tyres”. According to the company, Lehtoranta will continue in his present position until the end of 2016. Lehtoranta only joined Nokian in May 2014 and will be remembered for his decision to own up to company’s magazine tyre test manipulation in February 2016.
The Spanish municipality of Santa Cruz de la Zarza, some 50 miles southeast of Madrid, has been selected as the location of Nokian Tyres’ new technology centre for the testing of summer and winter tyres. The Finnish tyre maker will invest approximately €16 million to build the facility on a site of some 300 hectares. Construction work will begin early in 2017, and while the facility will not be finished until 2019 the first project stage is expected to be completed next year.
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