In March, Nokian Tyres gave North American dealers a preview of its new winter tire, the Hakkapeliitta 7, by inviting select U.S. and Canadian dealers and media to Finland for an introduction. The tiremaker also used the trip as an opportunity to show off its headquarters and state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, as well as to share its growth strategy for the future.
Touted as the most technologically advanced Hakka yet, the tire is currently available in Europe, but won’t be widely available in North America until 2011, in time for the 2011-12 winter season.
The Hakka 7 was put to the test in several different exercises at the tiremaker’s test center in Ivalo, Finland. The track, located some 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle on a frozen lake, served as the perfect proving ground for the new studded tire. The Hakka 7’s attributes were highlighted in a series of exercises, including snow and ice handling, braking on ice, a snowy hill climb and handling on asphalt to test the tire’s reduced road noise.
The tire, with a symmetric, directional tread pattern, features an all-new silica compound and advanced stud design to improve performance. According to Matti Morri, manager of technical customer service for Nokian’s car and van tire division, the Hakka 7 offers improvements over its predecessor, the Hakka 5, in slushplaning, rolling resistance, wet and dry handling and ABS braking on asphalt, acceleration and ABS braking on snow and ice, and noise level. The new tire also boasts 15% less roadwear, he noted.
The Hakka 7 features a six-sided stud design – the “anchor stud” – for better grip and stability. Each stud is anchored in a layer of stiff rubber compound to reduce movement, while air cushions absorb the stud’s hit on the road, reducing vibration, Morri said. As a result, the lifetime of each stud is longer due to decreased wear.
The tire’s outer shoulder features a slush edge to reduce slush planing, along with 3-D siping for added stability. On the face of the tread is a driving safety indicator, which lets drivers know when the tires need to be replaced.
The Hakka 7 is offered in 48 sizes ranging from 13- to 20-inch diameters, including five run-flat options. Currently, the tire is available only by special order for North American dealers.
Strong Foundation
Also on the trip, dealers got an inside look at the company’s headquarters in Nokia, Finland. Nokian’s plant, which produced the first winter tire in the world in 1934 and the first Hakkapeliitta tire two years later, is on the country’s historical register. While the façade may be more than 100 years old, inside the tiremaker’s production process is state-of-the art.
With a maximum capacity of 18,000 units each day, the plant is equipped with advanced machines that are able to build up to four different rubber compounds into a single tire. The technology is used in the company’s Z G2 summer performance tire, according to Petri Niemi, Nokian’s global product manager.
The factory produces 600 different SKUs annually, and each tire is visually inspected before it leaves the plant. In addition, the facility is environmentally-friendly: it runs on hydroelectric power, recycles water and produces zero waste.
In addition to the facility in Nokia, Nokian also has a greenfield manufacturing plant near St. Petersburg, Russia. Both plants are capable of producing all tire lines; Nokian is able to shift the type and amounts manufactured at each site in order to satisfy market demand and distribution needs, Niemi said.
Just a few kilometers away is Nokian’s 700,000-square-foot logistics center, which currently houses 1.2 million tires. The tires are continually transported from the plant to the center, where they are studded, if applicable, and stored. Backing up the tiremaker’s trend of efficiency, tires are loaded on pallets in the trucks in such a way that it takes only two minutes to unload the entire contents of a truck once it reaches the distribution center, according to Jari Lepisto, president of Nokian Tyres U.S. Holdings Inc.
Worldwide Growth
Nokian’s growth worldwide includes advances in North America, where tire sales were up 6% in 2009, despite a challenging market. The tiremaker’s key markets in the continent are Canada and the U.S. snowbelt areas, where the combined potential for winter tire sales is twice that of the Nordic countries combined, said Kari-Pekka Laaksonen, Nokian vice president of sales and logistics.
In 2009, Nokian’s global net sales were divided as follows: 60% from passenger tires, including studded and non-studded winter tires and summer performance tires; 3.2% from truck tires, including retreading materials; 5.7% from heavy tires, including forestry, industrial and ag tires; and 31.1% from Vianor retail chain, according to Laaksonen.
He noted that Nokian is positioned to improve net sales and operating results in 2010, and that, according to a company objective, 35% of each year’s sales must come from new products.
The company will continue to increase the number of its Vianor outlets – currently, there are 12 – in the New England area in the near future, according to Marc Bujold, business development manager for Nokian’s North American business, headquartered in Colchester, Vt.
Worldwide, there are 623 Vianor locations in 19 countries. The chain will expand further in 2010 pending negotiations in Belarus and Romania, Laaksonen noted.
Click here for our exclusive interview with Marc Bujold, business development manager for Nokian Tyres Inc.
