Susanna Tusa has been appointed general director and vice president of Nokian Tyres Romania Operations and will also lead the Romania factory project. Nokian Tyres broke ground for the zero CO2 emission tire factory in the city of Oradea located in North-West Romania this spring. The factory is scheduled to produce the first tires in the second half of 2024, and commercial tire production is set to start in early 2025. The factory will employ some 550 people.
Susanna Tusa has had a long and versatile career with Nokian Tyres, the company said. Between 2008 and 2020, she acted as group general counsel, after which she was responsible for global supply chain purchases. From 2022, Susanna has been responsible for initiating the passenger car tire contract manufacturing including partner selection and handling the agreement negotiations. As the general director of Romania operations and lead of the Romania factory project, from the beginning of September her responsibilities include establishing Nokian Tyres’ operations in Romania as well as leading the local management group and the factory building project, the company said.
The Romania factory will become a part of the global Nokian Tyres manufacturing network together with the factories in the US and in Finland. The annual capacity of the factory will be six million tires with expansion potential in the future, Nokian said. The factory will concentrate on the production of larger rim size passenger car and SUV tires that will be primarily sold in the Central European market. The site will also house a distribution facility for storage and distribution of tires, the combined built-up area totals some 100,000 m2 (approx. 1,076,391 sq. ft.)
The total investment of the greenfield factory is estimated to be approximately EUR 650 million (approx. $686,751,00), which is among the most valuable investments in Romania in the recent years.
Nokian Tyres said it also has started the recruitments in Oradea and in the surrounding Bihor County area. During 2023 recruitment will focus on white collar employees and recruitment for production staff will begin in the first half of 2024.
