Nokian Tyres
Publishing its second-half 2022 report on 25 January, Solidium Oy (Nokian Tyres’ largest single shareholder) expressed confidence in the Finnish tyremaker’s work last year.
How the Russia-Ukraine war, the company’s low share price and other challenges make Nokian Tyres prime takeover material for a premium brand with the money and desire
The government of Romania has approved state aid of almost 100 million euros to Nokian Tyres PLC. The tyre maker intends to establish a new factory in Oradea, and the ad hoc regional state aid will finance the costs related to the factory’s establishment and address the financing gap related to this greenfield investment.
In a busy terminal, tyre stability and long service life are key factors in ensuring operational safety and efficiency for reach stackers, forklifts and log stackers. Nokian Tyres says it developed the HTS G2 harbour tyre family for this purpose, adding that this range’s “excellent stability, good grip and predictable service life has been impressing users for years.” The scope to impress has now grown with the arrival of a new HTS G2 family member. As of 17 January, the Nokian Tyres HTS G2 L5-S, a fitment intended for use on reach stacker front axles, is available in size 18.00-25.
The Association for Finnish Work, a Helsinki-based organisation tasked with raising the profile of Finnish-made products and ensuring their success, has granted Nokian Heavy Tyres the right to use its Key Flag symbol on tyres, wheels and retreading materials. The Key Flag denotes that these products are produced in Finland and contain at least 50% domestic content.
Nokian Tyres is investing approximately US$174 million to double tyre capacity at its factory in the USA and to expand warehousing capabilities at the Dayton, Tennessee site. This project will lead to the creation of 75 new jobs at the Dayton facility this year, and the expansion will also enable Nokian to add light truck tyres to the plant’s product mix in 2023.
Many tyre makers have faced difficult decisions in the weeks and months since Russian troops first marched across Ukraine’s border on 24 February. Companies such as Nokian Tyres, Bridgestone, Continental, Michelin, Yokohama and Pirelli have needed to decide whether to continue operating their Russian plants. Four of these manufacturers are turning their backs on Russia or considering doing so, but two apparently are not.
From next year, Qingdao Sentury Tire will manufacture passenger car tyres under the Nokian brand name for the Central European market. Under a recently-signed contract manufacturing agreement between Nokian Tyres plc and Qingdao Sentury Tire Co., Ltd., production of a selected range of Nokian-designed and -tested tyres will commence in the first half of 2023, with products reaching the market in the second half of the year.
Nokian Tyres achieved an A- score by CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project) in the Climate Change sector for its actions aimed at decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating climate risks. The annual CDP report is deemed one of the most trusted indicators for performance on corporate climate change mitigation. Scores A and A- represent leadership level.
At the end of June, Nokian Tyres announced that it was executing a “controlled exit” from Russia. By August Russian news sources were reporting that Nokian was accepting “binding offers” for its Russian tyre plant up until the end of September. At the end of October, Nokian confirmed that it had agreed terms with Tatneft to sell its Russian tyre operations for roughly 400 million euros. More than a month later, Nokian Tyres spokespeople are speaking of “substantial uncertainties” relating to the Tatneft deal.
In addition to our live social media reporting and reporting the highlights of the 2022 Tyre Industry Conference in last month’s magazine, the December edition of Tyres & Accessories brings you curated coverage of the NTDA chairman and chief executive speeches as part of our “Looking back, Looking forward” review-of-the-year feature. With so much having taken place within the tyre market, the nation and the world as a whole, the two speeches offer a distinctly tyre distribution perspective on key issues relating to the associations growing membership, how it is developing relationships with other trade and charitable bodies and how it is investing in the future of the business via training initiatives.
Nokian Tyres has acquired a property adjacent to its headquarters and factory in Nokia, Finland. With the addition of this 27,000 square metre building, the Nokian Tyres site in Nokia approaches 150,000 square metres in total.
The EU ban on tyre imports from Russia has hit one company particularly hard: Nokian Tyres. Prior to February 2022, the Finnish manufacturer produced 17 million tyres a year in a factory near St. Petersburg, 82 per cent of its global output. Ten million of these were exported, mainly to Europe. This has no longer been possible since 10 July, with consequences for Nokian Tyres’ Central Europe sales region.
At a time when it is investing in new European capacity and exiting Russia, Finland’s Nokian Tyres has announced a reorganisation of its structure and management. These measures centre upon a combining of all Passenger Car Tyres commercial operations under the leadership of Anna Hyvönen, who currently serves as executive vice-president North America, Nordics and Vianor. Bahri Kurter, executive vice-president Central Europe at Nokian Tyres, is leaving the company to “pursue his career outside of Nokian Tyres.”
Due to the war in Ukraine and subsequent, tightening sanctions, Nokian Tyres plc has determined that it is “no longer feasible nor sustainable” to continue operations in Russia. The Finnish tyre maker’s Board of Directors thus decided today to initiate a controlled exit from this market. Exit preparations start immediately and Nokian Tyres will evaluate different options for its departure, with “due consideration to local employees and legislation.”
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Source: Solidium Oy
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