История и развитие компании Nokian Tyres

Finnish tyre company

Suomen Gummitehdas Oy was founded in 1898 and began manufacturing bicycle tyres in 1925 and car tyres in 1932. The Hakkapeliitta tyre name was introduced in 1936, Hakkapeliitta is a (Finnish) historical term used for a Finnish light cavalryman in the service of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden during the Thirty Years' War (1618–48). In 1967, Suomen Kumitehdas Oy (originally called Suomen Gummitehdas Oy, Finnish Rubber Works in English) merged with Kaapelitehdas (The Cable Company) and the forest and power industry company Nokia Aktiebolag to create Nokia Corporation. ended its ownership interest in Nokian Tyres in 2003, selling its holding of 2 million shares to Bridgestone Europe NV/SA, a subsidiary of the Japanese tyre manufacturer Bridgestone, for U. S. $73.2 million. This made Bridgestone the largest shareholder, with an 18.9% stake, later diluted to 16.8%. This successor company remained one of the few manufacturers of tungsten carbide studded snow tyres for bicycles. Suomen Rengastehdas continued to produce bicycle tyres until the bankruptcy of the company on 20 May 2019. In September 2019 LieksaTyres Oy acquired the bankruptcy estates including model rights, immaterial rights and production lines of Suomen Rengastehdas and continued the production of promising product categories including bicycle summer tyres. Nokian Tyres set up a joint venture, Ordabasy – Nokian Tyres JSC, with Ordabasy Corporation JSC, a multi industry Kazakh company, to manufacture passenger car tyres at a planned new factory in Kazakhstan. The venture started in 2007, but the manufacturing project was put on hold in early 2009. Nokian Tyres was to provide technical expertise in tyre manufacturing, and the products were to be sold in Kazakhstan, Central Asia, Russia, and Eastern Europe. In 2009, the Nokian Hakkapeliitta tyre model line received the "List of trademarks with a reputation" status by the National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland. The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine had a severe impact on Nokian Tyres as the company had manufactured 80 percent of its car tyres in Russia. Nokian initially continued its operations in Russia, expressing that it wished to retain control over its factories and ensure they were not used for military purposes. It also said it would boost production in Finland and the United States. During the summer, Nokian began to withdraw from Russia. As of 2008, Nokian is the most profitable tyre manufacturer in the world, at up to 18% earnings (before taxes and interest) relative to sales, compared to 14% at Bridgestone, 8% at Michelin, and 9.6% at Continental. The company had revenue growth of 18% annually in the 2003–2007 period. Nokian Tyres is also publicly traded on the Berlin Stock Exchange. Kim Gran has been the President and chief executive officer since 1 September 2000, having previously served as a vice president for five years.

Nokian Tyres produces tyres for passenger cars, SUVs, and vans. Nokian branded tyres are sold in over 60 countries. Nokian Tyres designed the first winter tyres in 1934 and has more winter tyre patents than any other manufacturer. Nokian Tyres is known for its winter tyres, not to be confused with all season tyres. Nokian winter tyres have been described as a favourite of critics and have been well received in winter test results by several publications. Nokian also has designed some winter tyre models with low rolling resistance, offering lower fuel consumption. Nokian Tyres was the first tyre manufacturer in the world to eliminate high aromatic oils from its production process. Used as plasticising agents in tread production and to facilitate the compounding of rubber, they contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), a carcinogen, and have been replaced by low aromatic oils. In 2006, Nokian Tyres received a commendation in the Finnish round of the European Business Awards for the Environment. The demand for Nokian tyres is seasonal, as a high percentage of the company's sales are of winter tyres, but it has reduced seasonal fluctuations by its development of summer and all weather tyres. According to the company, more than 80% of its passenger car and van tyre sales are winter tyres. Winter tyre sales have a strong seasonal characteristic with 30% of retail sales occurring in the ten days after the first snowfall, thus presenting challenges in production and delivery. Nokian Tyres does not sell to automobile manufacturers, but instead concentrates on the more profitable consumer tyre replacement and premium snow tyre markets. Nokian Tyres has the highest market share of the Finnish passenger car tyre market. The Finnish, Swedish, and Norwegian markets contributed over 40% of Nokian Tyres' corporate net sales in 2008. The Russian market, Nokian Tyres' largest, The Hakkapeliitta brand was, at one time, the only Western tyre brand in Russia having entered the market during the Soviet era in 1964. In contrast to having a Russian tyre factory to benefit from lower tariffs, another tyre company, Continental AG, abandoned Russian tyre production and hopes for Russian membership in the World Trade Organisation will result in lower import tariffs. In 2009, the North American market accounted for over 10% of the company's net sales. Nokian Tyres has a tyre subsidiary based in LaVergne, Tennessee (USA). In that market, Nokian Tyres sell only to independent dealers, some of whom use the tyre products to fill in gaps in their product lines instead of an exclusive or majority share. This results in some dealers being knowledgeable about specific tyres but not Nokian Tyre's full tyre product range.

Nokian Tyres manufactures truck and bus tyres sold under the Nokian Hakkapeliitta brand. Steer, traction, and trailer tyres are marketed. Nokian Heavy Tyres Ltd is a manufacturer of special tyres for forestry, industrial machinery, and agriculture. Its products are sold as original equipment as well on the replacement tyre market. Nokian Tyres produces a number of product lines, including the Tractor Industrial 2 and Country King. Nokian Tyres is a world market leader in forestry tyres, which are a key product of the Nokian Heavy Tyres subsidiary. Nokian forestry tyres include the Skidder and Cut To Length model lines. The Skidder tyres have a 25 degree bar angle and the Cut To Length tyres have a 35 degree bar angle. Bar angle is a tyre tread measurement. Smaller bar angles are associated with higher traction at the expense of increased mud accumulation.

Nokian Tyres also produces materials for retreading and refurbishing used tyres. Nokian Noktop and Kraiburg, an industry competitor, produce most of the retreading materials for the European market. The RoadSnoop Pressure Watch, a tyre pressure monitor for race cars, is also produced by Nokian Tyres.

The Nokian brand of bicycle tyres, including studded winter MTB and touring models was later owned and produced by Suomen Rengastehdas Oy (Finnish Tyre Factory Ltd) at least until 2007 when branding was changed to Suomi Tyres. Beginning from 18 September 2019 LieksaTyres Oy (Lieksa Tyres Ltd) continued the bicycle tire development and manufacturing with Suomi Tyres brand name, using the original toolings and production lines until rising energy prices and material costs forced it to filed bankruptcy in 18 April 2023. In November of 2023 WRC rally car tire manufacturer DMACK announced the acquisition of the bankruptcy estates of Lieksa Tyres Ltd. The new owner is going to invest in new production lines and development of new products. The manufacturing in Lieksa will start again in 2024.

Nokian Tyres owns 100% of Vianor Holding Oy, which administers Vianor, a tyre chain of company owned and franchised stores. The Vianor name is derived from the Latin phrase "northern way" or "northern road", in total including franchises. Company owned outlets are located in the Switzerland, Russia, Norway, Finland, Sweden, and the United States. The twelve United States outlets are located in the American states of Vermont, New Hampshire, New York and Massachusetts. Countries with only franchised outlets include Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Moldova, Georgia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia and Bulgaria. Nokian Tyres has operated retail tyre stores in Norway since 1987, when it acquired Larsen & Lund, and since 1998 in Sweden and Latvia.

[[File:Black999. jpg|thumb|alt=Nokia Hakkapeliitta tread shown with deep treads and many sipes (thin channels) for better winter traction|left|Deep tread pattern and multiple sipes in a Nokian Hakkapeliitta R winter tyre tread. The numbers 4, 6, 8 in the tread (in mm) indicate the depth of the remaining tread. The number 8 becomes unreadable as the tread wears to a depth of less than 8 mm. The original factory was built in 1904, the current one in 1945; it has expanded several times since then. The plant uses radio frequency devices to monitor the inventory of materials used to manufacture tyres, such as the 100 metre long strips of rubber tread. Shortages of rubber tread can halt production and so keeping an adequate supply of materials increases efficiency. Despite trade journals discussing this technique, Nokian declines to confirm its production methods. The Ivalo Proving Ground is the only permanent winter tyre testing facility in the world.

Nokian produces approximately 6,000 tyres daily and employs 510 employees at its factory in Vsevolozhsk, Russia near Saint Petersburg, and plans to increase manufacturing capacity to 10 million tyres annually by 2011. The factory was established in 2005. In 2006, it expanded its facilities there, adding a mixing department and a warehouse capable of housing 600,000 tyres. The new mixing department gives the factory the capability to produce rubber compounds on site instead of importing them from the factory in Nokia, Finland. The Vsevolozhsk factory manufactures Nokian branded car tyres, in 2006 the majority of which were sold in Russia and countries of the former USSR. Nokian plans to build 300 housing units and sell them to employees at cost as part of the Russian factory expansion that was scheduled to be completed by 2011. During the Russian 2014 2017 financial crisis, the company moved to exporting 70 percent of all of its Russian tire production, up from about 55 percent, as manufacturing costs in the country lowered. In 2017, as the Russian economy began to recover, Nokian began redirecting production back to Russian customers and invested 55 million euros in upgrading the factory, including an increase in annual production capacity from 15.5 million tyres to 17 million. Indonesia (PT Gajah Tunggal Tbk company), and the People's Republic of China (Giti Tire), as well as contract manufacture of agriculture and industrial tyres in Spain and India. In the past, some United States contract manufacturing was done by Cooper Tire's Findlay, Ohio, plant. Contract manufacture by Giti Tire includes production of up to 500,000 Nokian summer tyres with expansion up to 1.5 million tyres per year. until 2005, when Nokian began to shift contract manufacture of industrial tyres to Bridgestone's factory in Bilbao, Spain and agricultural tyres to Balkrishna Tyres in Bhiwadi, India.