Startup Europe Partnership (SEP), an initiative of the European Commission, has distinguished Fiege – which has developed a tyre logistics specialism during the last 10 years – as an Open Innovation Challenger. 24 corporate partners are listed in this annual ranking, including multinationals like Amazon, Dell or Google.
According to Nokian Tyres, global demand for premium heavy tyres is rising and new, larger tyres for bulkier machinery need to be developed. To meet this demand, the tyre maker’s Nokian Heavy Tyres unit will erect a new research and development centre in Nokia, Finland next year.
The Board of Directors at Nokian Tyres has set new financial targets for 2019-2021. These targets include faster than market growth of more than five per cent CAGR, EBIT at 22 per cent and a shareholders’ dividend of more than 50 per cent of net earnings. Nokian says the
financial targets will guide the company in reaching the strategic ambitions it set in early 2018, which include increasing sales by 50 per cent in Central Europe and doubling them in North America within the next five years.
In addition to introducing the ‘three-season’ Wetproof today, Nokian Tyres has unveiled another key product in its new generation of summer tyres – the ultra-high-performance Powerproof.
Aquaplaning beware – you have a new nemesis. Nokian Tyres has thrown down the gauntlet with its introduction of the Nokian Wetproof, a product it calls the “enemy of aquaplaning.” And while the Wetproof is a new member of the Nokian Tyres summer portfolio, it may help to think of it as an all-season tyre without specific snow and ice capabilities; Nokian has developed the Wetproof to “work safely and reliably from spring mornings to late autumn” in order to offer “steady performance and peace of mind for all three seasons.” Those wanting peace of mind in the fourth season are presumably welcome to fit winter tyres, preferably a Nokian product.
Continental’s WinterContact TS 860 has won its third consecutive Auto Express winter tyre test. The tyre beat strong competition from major manufacturers, most notably Hankook, whose Winter i*cept RS2 received a “commended” rating in second place, in a test tweaked this year “to better reflect UK driving conditions”. Outside the winter tyre competition, Auto Express also commented that the all-season control tyre, the Michelin CrossClimate+, not only finished close to the top in dry and wet tests, but was also only behind Hankook’s star performer in the snow – a result Auto Express described as “remarkable”.
From 1 October 2018, Nokian Tyres will proudly partner Scottish Mountain Rescue in a three-year sponsorship deal. The agreement will see all Scottish Mountain Rescue vehicles fitted with Nokian Tyres’ most recent and innovative products.
During the summer months of June to August, the SnapSkan tyre scanning technology from Nokian Tyres measured the condition of tyres fitted to almost 200,000 cars in Finland’s largest cities. What these free tests showed is that up 13 per cent of all cars scanned were fitted with summer tyres that have what the tyre maker calls a “dangerously low tyre tread depth.”
Tyre testers have labelled all-season tyres a ‘compromise’ purchase in past years for their inability to deliver the performance of both summer and winter tyres whenever the weather snaps its fingers and demands this. In its evaluation of the current generation of all-season rubber, Germany’s auto motor und sport harbours no illusions that such a compromise still exists. It wanted to know, however, whether the compromise can be effectively reduced through considered choice of product – the answer, the publication shares, is that it can.
Nokian Heavy Tyres has introduced a successor to the Nokian MPT Agile, and it says this new-generation tyre offers “several improvements over the original.” The Nokian MPT Agile 2 takes up its predecessor’s remit of offering manoeuvrability, grip and reliability both on and off the road and at any speed; the tyre is aimed at defence and peacekeeping applications, rescue vehicles and off-road trucks.
Two new heavy vehicle tyre lines have arrived in the Nokian portfolio. The Finnish manufacturer has unveiled the Nokian R-Truck, an on- and off-road tyre designed for trucks engaged in applications such as earthmoving and forestry, as well as the Nokian Hakkapeliitta Truck T winter tyre for truck trailers.
The forests will be a hive of activity on the morrow, but don’t worry – it’ll only be the start of the Nokian Tyres World Orienteering Championships. Between 4 and 11 August, those nimble of compass and versed in the art of map reading will descend upon the fields and woodlands around Latvia’s capital Riga and the neighbouring small down of Sigulda in order to prove their mettle and sense of direction. For the third year in a row. Nokian tyres is acting as the event’s title sponsor.
All hail, the reign of the Tractor King has commenced. This regally-titled tyre was developed to provide “the heaviest of machinery” with a fitment for use in the “most difficult terrain in forestry, earthmoving and road construction.” Nokian Tyres says the design of the Nokian Tractor King, from its all-new tread pattern to its strengthened casing, is “nothing short of revolutionary in a tractor tyre.”
This weekend either France or Croatia will be taking the World Cup trophy home, and football superstars such as Ronaldo and Messi will have to be content with watching the action on television. But should their hankering to take part in a football world championship prove strong, there’s still time for them to travel to Hyrynsalmi, Finland. Starting today, this sparsely populated patch of nowhere is hosting the Nokian Tyres Swamp Soccer World Championships.
Nokian Tyres is increasing production capacity for passenger car tyres at its Nokia, Finland factory by approximately 30 per cent.
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