Nokian Tyres plc and Qingdao Sentury Tire Co., Ltd. have signed a contract manufacturing agreement. According to the agreement, Qingdao Sentury Tire will start to manufacture select Nokian Tyres passenger car tires for the Central European market. Tires manufactured at Sentury Tire’s production facility are designed by Nokian Tyres and have been tested in Nokian Tyres’ testing facilities to meet the company’s requirements for safety and quality, Nokian said. Tires will be sold under the Nokian Tyres brand.
Nokian Tyres said it is in the process of negotiating additional contract manufacturing agreements, and the total annual volume of these agreements in 2023–2027 is estimated to be between 1 to 3 million tires to complement the production at Nokian Tyres’ own facilities.
The collaboration between Nokian Tyres and Qingdao Sentury Tire builds on a long-term partnership and secures the availability of the company’s high-quality tires in the Central European market, Nokian said. Production will start in the first half of 2023, and the first tires will be in the market in the second half of 2023. The manufacturing site will be regularly audited according to Nokian Tyres’ quality, sustainability and safety requirements, Nokian reported.
Along with contract manufacturing, Nokian Tyres is advancing its efforts to increase its own production. Announced in early November, the company will invest EUR 650 million ($690 million USD) in a new zero CO2 emission production site in Romania. Commercial production is scheduled to begin at the factory in 2025. At the same time, the company has continued to increase capacity at its factories in Finland and in the US, the company said.
“We have started to build the new Nokian Tyres without production in Russia, and contract manufacturing is an essential part of these plans. It complements our own production and helps us respond to demand even more quickly and flexibly. With the new factory in Romania, increasing capacity in Finland and the US and the contract manufacturing, we are laying a strong foundation for Nokian Tyres’ future growth,” says Jukka Moisio, the president and CEO of Nokian Tyres.
Wes Boling, senior communications and content manager for Nokian, said the agreement with Sentury Tire will not affect Nokian Tyres’ supply for North America, “where we will continue to use our Nokia factory and Dayton factory to grow our North American business.”
