Nokian who is the manufacturer. Excursion to Nokian Tires factory in Russia (8 photos)

Today, Nokian Tires is the world's largest tire manufacturer. Read the history of Nokian development, what place the Finnish company occupies in Russia and what are the advantages of their products.

Nokian Tires, or in the original version Nokian Renkaat, is Scandinavia's largest tire manufacturer. The concern originates from the small Finnish city of Nokia, where its "headquarters" is located today. Nokian manufactures summer and, to a greater extent, winter tires for cars and trucks, as well as special wheeled vehicles. In addition to the Scandinavian countries, the main markets for Nokian Tires products are also other European and North American countries with snowy winters.

history of the company

Nokian Tires is almost 120 years old. It all started with the fact that in 1898 in the Finnish capital, the city of Helsinki, a group of experienced merchants and industrialists led by Eduard Polon founded a factory specializing in the production of rubber products, mainly shoes. They decided to name the company "Suomen Gummitehdas Osakeyhtiö" (Finnish Rubber Factory).

As demand for the factory's products grew, the factory needed a larger production site, but expansion within Helsinki was problematic. In this regard, in 1904 the factory was relocated to the town of Nokia, located in southwestern Finland. It was here that the factory first began to produce products under the Nokia brand.

In the early 1930s, the rubber industry in Finland experienced a period of active centralization. As part of this process, the Rubber Plant bought out many small enterprises operating in this area. In the same period, Thorsten Westerlund replaced Polon as director of the company.

At the end of the 1930s. the rubber plant was firmly among the twenty largest enterprises in Finland.

In 1958, Ensio Salmenkallio became the new director, and the company itself changed its status to LLC. Since Finland was experiencing a period of rapid motorization at this time, revenues from sales of car tires began to outstrip revenues from sales of shoes.

In the 1960s, the company went through a series of mergers, acquisitions and renamings, bringing together tire and rubber shoe, electronics and cable manufacturers, a woodworking factory and an electrical company under the same legal umbrella of Nokia Corporation. In fact, it was a huge conglomerate of separate enterprises, each of which had its own director.

In the late 1980s, due to the pan-European economic downturn, Nokia Corporation was experiencing financial difficulties. To overcome them, among other things, a business restructuring was carried out, within the framework of which the production of tires was withdrawn from the corporation and became an independent enterprise. Today, Nokian Tires, which produces the famous Finnish tires, has nothing to do with the no less famous manufacturer of Finnish electronics and mobile phones, Nokia.

History of Nokian Tires winter tire technology

Being one of the largest modern manufacturers of winter tires, Nokian maintains its leadership in the industry primarily due to the constant desire to be at the forefront of progress. On the eve of the First World War, when the company's management was just beginning to think about how to master the production of tires, the technology had to be adopted abroad, in particular in the United States.

This process turned out to be quite lengthy. All the 20s were spent on preparing calculations and purchasing test molds. As an intermediate step, in 1925, Nokian mastered the production of bicycle tires, and in 1931, the process of coordinating and patenting its own tire production was finally completed. The first batch of new products was released in 1932.

At first, the Nokian manufacturer produced only summer car tires, since at that time there was simply no such thing as “winter” tires. All year round, the cars drove on the same tires, which in the cold and snowy Finnish winter was a certain inconvenience. And here the Finns surpassed their teachers by offering the world new technologies of their own design.

The first truck tire designed for driving at low temperatures was produced in 1934 at the Finnish plant in Nokia. And two years later, its significantly improved version for passenger cars appeared, called Nokia Hakkapeliitta. Subsequently, this particular brand has become a symbol of high-quality winter tires all over the world.

Over the next ten years, the demand for winter tires in Finland and the neighboring Scandinavian countries grew rapidly, and in 1945 the company opened a new, largest tire factory in northern Europe.

The next major milestone in the development of the Nokian tire lineup was the release in 1956 of the Haka-Hakkapeliitta tire, which used a reinforced double tread design, which significantly improved handling on winter roads. And in 1963, a new revolutionary tire was launched on the market, in the design of which carbide studs were used. This model was called "Kometa-Hakkapeliitta".

In general, the 50-60s. can be considered a period of rapid growth and expansion of the Nokian company, including the conquest of markets outside Scandinavia. The furor that their winter tires caused during the rally in Monte Carlo helped the Finns in this. Cars with Finnish winter tires under the control of Finnish pilots turned out to be invincible on snowy tracks.

By the beginning of the 60s, Nokian products were already supplied to two dozen countries, including England and the USA. In the following decades, the concern continued to set the standard in the winter tire segment, regularly releasing new and increasingly progressive tire models. The rest of the tire manufacturers had to follow in the wake of the Finns.

Today, the Nokian Tires concern produces tires at two of its own enterprises (one in Finland and one in Russia). In addition, Finnish tires are also produced under license by factories located in the USA, China, Indonesia, India, Spain and Slovakia.

Nokian in Russia

In most of the territory of our country, winters are quite severe and snowy, and therefore the issue of using high-quality winter tires is relevant for all motorists. It is not surprising that Nokian products are in high demand in our country. At the moment, almost all Nokian brand tires sold in Russia are produced in our country.

One of the largest and most modern tire factories in Europe, the manufacturer Nokian opened in 2005 in the city of Vsevolozhsk, not far from St. Petersburg. It is interesting that the enterprise launched in Russia is even larger than the Finnish plant in the city of Nokia. Today, production lines in Vsevolozhsk provide about 80% of the production of all Nokian tires for passenger vehicles. Since the beginning of the work of this enterprise, more than 70 million units of products have been produced.

In 2012, Nokian Tires opened another plant next to the already existing plant in Russia. Gradually putting into operation more and more new production lines, the Finnish concern brought the volume of production in Russia to 15 million units per year.

As in Finland itself, in Russia the plant is extremely automated and manual labor is practically not used, which guarantees the high quality of the products. At the same time, the manufacturer Nokian subjects each produced tire to a double quality control: the check is carried out by both automation and a living person.

Since the Russian plant "Nokian" today is de facto the main one for the concern, the products manufactured here go not only to the Russian market, but also to other CIS countries, Europe and even Scandinavia.

Nokian has 2 factories around the world, one is located in Finland in the town of Nokia, near Tampere and was opened in 1925. The second one is in Russia in Vsevolozhsk, Leningrad Region, which was launched in 2005. Tires are also made at other factories in small volumes, such as trucks Nokian tires, makes Bridgestone according to Nokian parameters. Working in the auto business, I constantly heard the question, where can I find tires exactly Finnish production. I will answer in Russia they are not. The fact is that it is the Russian Nokian plant that is the main one and produces 70% of tires of the total volume, which is more than 2 times more than the Finnish one. Tires that are made in Russia are sold in 38 countries, including Finland. There was a scandal at first, why they should ride on Russian tires. At one time, they even carried out tests at test sites comparing one model of production in Russia and Finland. The test showed that the quality is the same.

How do the representatives of the companies explain the difference between the plants. The profitability of production here is higher than in Finland. Average one tire made in Russia, costs the company 10 euros less in terms of cost than the same tire made in Finland. There is a difference in a number of factors of production: it is not only the labor force, but also the cost of energy. Plus, our plant has greater productivity than the Finnish one, due to the fact that it is new, it has the most modern technologies, and a high level of automation. Therefore, when it came to the need for a rapid increase in capacity for the concern, it was decided to do it here. In Finland, in principle, there is physically nowhere to expand geographically. There, the plant can increase its capacity only by upgrading existing equipment.

It should be noted that the Nokian Russian plant is the most modern tire factory in Europe and the largest in Russia. In general, these are actually 2 factories located nearby. Another striking feature of this plant is the presence of the Hakkapeliitta Village, which consists of multi-storey buildings with spacious apartments, and workers live there, who received them on credit on special terms.

Well, it is impossible without a drop of tar. In 2011 there was a scandal associated with the Russian plant. Its essence is that people are crippled and do not receive anything. And to be crippled because the motivation of work is such that it needs to be processed in order to earn the result of overwork and accidents. The trade union said that every month they are crippled, and the plant management said that in 4 years there has not been a single accident. In general, you be the judge.

Nokian tire factory in Finland

Tire factory Nokian in Russia

Hakkapeliitta Village

"Finnish Nokian is definitely better!" - it is not entirely clear what such a strong conviction of the forum "experts" is based on, but many are in a hurry to agree with them. They say that in Russia they didn’t do anything worthwhile, even Nokian in their performance is worse ... Well, let’s try to figure out how, from what and by whom Nokian tires are made in Russian Vsevolozhsk, can they be somehow different from Finnish ones.

Let's start with some statistics. The Vsevolozhsk plant of Nokian Tires was built in 2005, since then its initial capacity has been increased from 1 to 14 million tires per year. The plans for 2013-2014 include the launch of two more new lines and an increase in capacity to 17 million tires per year. The staff of 1,100 people, which, with last year's production of 12 million tires, makes the Russian plant of Nokian Tires one of the most efficient production facilities in the world! For comparison, the Finnish plant produced 6 million tires last year.

The production range of the Russian Nokian plant includes about 1000 tire sizes, about 100 of them are produced simultaneously. The plant operates 24 hours a day, in four shifts. More than 50% of the products of the Russian plant are exported, thanks to which Nokian Tires is the No. 1 exporter of products in Russia! Another small touch to the portrait - some Nokian tire models are produced only in Russia and are exclusively for export. That is, "authoritative" statements like "second-class tires are made in Russia for the CIS" can already be considered complete nonsense ...

Do you use Russian raw materials?
- Of course!
- What is its quality? Not "limping"?
- We have been using it for 15 years, including at the Finnish enterprise. And, as you can see, the quality of raw materials allows us to make the best winter tires!

The press tour was superbly prepared: Andrey Pantyukhov, General Director and Vice President of the Nokian Tires Russia Concern, personally answered all our tricky questions. And most of them, of course, concerned the quality of the products of the Russian plant.
- The five main components that allow us to provide the highest quality products are technology, raw materials, equipment, people, control. Finnish technologies, because we do not have a design department at the plant, we are only engaged in production. We have already spoken about raw materials. The equipment is the best, and this is not an exaggeration: according to our information, the Vsevolozhsk plant of Nokian Tires today is the most modern tire production in the world! However, now you will see everything yourself during the tour ...

In the workshops we are "greeted" by a characteristic smell.
- It smells like natural rubber! It's not chemistry, so don't worry. Yes, and you get used to it quickly.
Really fast - after 20 minutes you do not notice anything. And why is it so deserted in the shops? Within a radius of a hundred meters from me, I managed to count about 5-6 people, plus a few more driving back and forth on loaders. What is it - lunch, shift change or equipment changeover?
- No, at the moment the plant is operating at full capacity! A relatively low staff density is a plus for maximum production automation. Our employees, in fact, are more involved in control than directly in production.

And it's true: employees in production mostly stand a couple of meters from the machine, behind the yellow line, and observe the process. A vivid example is a machine for "assembling" a raw tire from components. On the lines assembled in the early years, the worker only at a certain moment hangs side tapes on the "paw" of the machine, and the machine does the rest. That is, the human factor is minimized - somehow you can’t make a mistake here even if you wish. But this is not the limit! Because on the new line, the side tapes are already fed automatically, and the operator only observes the operation of the machine, without interfering in any way with the process.
- What are people doing here?
- Control the quality!

And here is the local "OTK". Ready, still warm after vulcanization, the tire falls into the hands of a visual inspector. With refined movements, he makes some kind of mark inside with a brush, rotates the tire, examining it from two sides, from the inside - literally 10 seconds for everything.
- Each tire is evaluated by both electronics and a person, that is, quality control is 200 percent. Now you can see how the visual inspector visually evaluates about 100 parameters. If there is even the slightest doubt, the tire is sent for additional control.
- And what kind of mark does he put inside the wheel?
- And this is his personal code - we always know who exactly assessed the quality of each wheel. Therefore, even 5 years later, if some defect suddenly comes out, it will be known exactly who missed it in production ...
- And what will it be?
- We will not shoot, of course ... But, believe me, it will not seem enough.

We believe! Because quality is simply obsessed here: in addition to visual and electronic control, there is also a selective one - every day tires of different sizes are sawn on a special machine, 100% compliance with the terms of reference is carefully checked.

Let's say you punish him. But it is known that in Russia it is simply a disaster with qualified personnel. And here, in Vsevolozhsk, probably especially. Look how many factories have been built around - specialists are constantly lured back and forth ...
- In this regard, the Finns have their own solution, and it turned out to be very effective in terms of staff motivation!

And now we are passing HAKKAPELIITTA VILLAGE…
A 20-minute drive from the plant - neat 5-storey houses. They look great: modern quality housing with a claim to some elitism. And what do you think it is? This is a whole village that Nokian Tires has built for its employees! So far, only the first stage has been commissioned, but construction continues, and additional plots of land have recently been bought specifically for this project ...
- And who can get housing here - the authorities or any employee? And at what percentage is it sold to employees? And for how many years?

Questions are pouring in like hail, but our "informants" are ready for them. Because housing for employees is the very “carrot” that allows Nokian Tires Russia to look into the future with confidence: there shouldn’t be any problems with personnel at this enterprise!
- Let's start with the fact that out of applicants for work at Nokian Tires, we choose on average one or two people out of a hundred. Further, if the qualifying round is passed and there were no comments during the probationary period, a contract for 7 years is concluded with the employee. And after several months of work, on the recommendation of the master, he can apply for housing. It is sold on a mortgage, for a period of up to 20 years, at the lowest possible interest rate under the law - 7.3. The initial payment is only 5 percent.
Well, the motivation to work well and efficiently among the employees of the Russian Nokian plant is really strong!

So for me personally, a visit to the plant in Vsevolozhsk dotted the i's. Obviously, the Russian Nokian cannot be worse than the Finnish one. Firstly, because this is perhaps the most modern tire production in the world, and secondly, because there can be no talk of any "internal" tires, because more than half of the production is exported. This is what the proud title of "Exporter of Products No. 1 in Russia" says! Well, HAKKAPELIITTA VILLAGE finally convinced me of this - the imagination refuses to imagine a situation where an employee who has received such a bonus on the most favorable terms can somehow not "cheer" for the success of his enterprise.

Today, car tires from the Finnish manufacturer Nokian are perhaps the most popular and purchased in Europe. This fact is easy to explain - the Finnish company is regularly working to improve the performance of its own products, which ultimately leads to the creation of almost the most advanced tires for the summer and winter seasons.

Today, Nokian introduces more than 100 different tire models to the market, and each of these models, despite the similarity with the previous ones, is original and unique, and each of these models meets all the necessary quality and environmental standards.

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That is why these tires are recognized by car owners not only in European markets, but also in the world, despite the fact that, for example, in the USA, there are a huge number of their concerns that also produce high-quality tires.

What is the strength of this manufacturer, why these tires are considered one of the best in the world and what indicators were presented in past tire tests - we will tell you in more detail.

Nokian lineup

In the model range of car tires from the manufacturer Nokian, as we have already said, there are more than 100 types of winter and summer tire modifications. It is difficult to single out the best among them, since consumer reviews speak in a positive way about each model.

It is worth noting that each model of Nokian tires is created using special patented technologies, and this fact already guarantees the quality of products manufactured by the Finnish manufacturer. It is possible that there will be several dissatisfied drivers all over the world who will say that Nokian tires, to put it mildly, are not top of the entire market abundance, but you can argue with them in this matter.

Recently, we can single out the Nokian Nordman SX summer tire model, which in 2015 became the most purchased and, accordingly, popular in the European market. This model can be described as the most convenient, practical, safe and reliable. The cost of a set of summer tires for this model, by the way, cannot be called high - it is rather average.

As noted above, the most purchased tire model in 2015 from Nokian was the Nordman SX model. But this is far from the only model that is famous for its ideal technical characteristics and operating features. In general, Nokian summer tires can be expressed in the following way - it has a high degree of resistance to both wear and mechanical stress and deformation.

Such high performance indicators were achieved, first of all, by the fact that the manufacturer uses a special rubber compound for its summer tires, which results in a product of uniquely high quality. The composition of this mixture includes the following components:

1. absorbent gels.
2. Silica.
3. natural rubber, etc.

It would be possible to paint the rubber composition further, but there is no point in this - the manufacturer does not want to fully disclose its own secrets, so users will be able to find out the exact composition of the rubber compound only in the case of a detailed and complete examination.

Nokian summer tires are also characterized by the fact that they have perfect grip on the road surface of any condition and in any weather. This is also due to the high quality of rubber, as well as the uniqueness of the tread profiles of Finnish car tire models.

Each model is programmed with its own tread pattern, which is optimized for universal conditions of use. It is for this reason that most drivers in Europe can use Finnish-made summer tires even in the winter season, and they do it successfully. It's not only about excellent grip, but also about the durability of tires - most models can be used for 4-5 seasons safely.

True, Nokian summer tires are not entirely suitable for driving on Russian roads in winter - after all, our climate is more severe than the European one in general, therefore, our drivers are not recommended to use summer tires in frosty times in order to avoid accidents.

Separate words of praise deserve winter tires from the Finnish manufacturer Nokian. The production technology here is somewhat different from that used in the manufacture of summer tires. It is worth noting that not all Nokian winter tire models use studs. Recently, tire manufacturers have become quite a fashionable trend. Why do manufacturers deliberately reduce the safety level of using such tires?

In fact, security is not reduced, rather the opposite. The rubber composition for the winter season from the Nokian manufacturer is unique - the tires are siped in such a way that a light touch of the brake pedal allows the car to instantly slow down without changing the trajectory of movement. In other words, the occurrence of drifts is virtually excluded for those cars that are equipped with these tires.

And it is precisely this quality that makes Nokian winter tires the most popular in the world - few manufacturers do not equip wheels with spikes, while achieving such high levels of grip with the roadway. Nokian does it easily.

But do not think that Nokian winter tires, which are additionally equipped with spikes, have a lower degree of safety of use - this is not at all the case. Such tires have the highest reliability class, not inferior to any model among European counterparts.

Yes, these tires can cost a little more than those made by the rest of the tire manufacturers in the world. However, if the driver seeks to ensure complete safety while driving for himself and the road users around him, then it is better in this case to pay a slightly larger amount than, perhaps, to pay for his mistakes with the lives of people.

Nokian tire tests

Nokian car tires were subjected to a large number of tests during the research process by independent experts, during which experts tried to identify advantages and disadvantages in tires, as well as make recommendations for improvement.

According to the results of these tests, the experts identified only two points on which the manufacturer needs to work a little. First of all, this concerns the sidewalls of tires on some summer models, which are not strong enough.

To ensure the highest level of ride comfort and driving safety, the manufacturer should compact the rubber compound in this part of the tire.

Also, experts noticed that with strong temperature drops in the tires, the air pressure drops quite a lot. This is a completely understandable biological fact, but manufacturers around the world have already worked in this direction, except for Nokian. It would seem that Finland is a country that is not alien to such natural disasters. But no, such a problem remains uncorrected for the tire manufacturer at the moment.

In general, for the rest of the components, it is worth noting that Nokian tires are actually perfectly executed. Excellent grip on all tire variations, excellent rolling resistance, excellent water repellency and many other strengths make these tires the most recognized in Europe and the world.

Overview of Nokian tire models

Among the models of car tires from the Finnish manufacturer Nokian, almost all modifications can be distinguished, since they all have excellent properties and performance characteristics. However, according to independent experts, there are four models that stand out more than others from the general range of tire variations produced at the Nokian plant. These models include the following:

All listed models have the highest quality standard, as well as all possible certificates and documents that confirm the high degree of environmental friendliness of these products. All four models are manufactured using the finest materials.

Also, all of them were recognized as the best in the nomination "the best properties of adhesion to the coating." And it is no coincidence that among the four presented models there were two summer modifications and two winter modifications - this indicates that the Finnish manufacturer Nokian is equally brilliant at producing car tires for any season. Let us consider the presented models in more detail.

Hakka Green is a model that virtually all Europeans know about, because for quite a long time this modification has been used in all leading European countries. It is no coincidence that specialists singled out the first one for them - for such tires all indicators are in the first place, that is, we can say that this particular model is considered the best in the performance of the Finnish manufacturer.

If we consider more deeply the properties of these tires, then we can say that in terms of grip with the roadway, there are no equals to Hakke Green among Nokian models. In any weather, on any surface, cars that are equipped with a set of Hakka Green tires will be able to drive everywhere, at high speeds and without the slightest hint of skidding. The use of these tires makes it clear that you can go equally fast on dry, heated pavement, on wet ground - in any case, grip will be at the highest level.

Also, such excellent grip properties are due to the fact that this model has an original tread pattern that allows you to push water masses out of the contact patch, which allows the car to better keep a straight path. Accordingly, reliability, safety, maneuverability are the most striking qualities that a driver receives when purchasing such a set of tires.

If we talk about Hakka Blue, then we can say the following - none of the owners will agree to exchange these tires for any other model. These tires are ideal for driving in the cool autumn season, when it often rains and the road becomes slippery, and the car handles a little worse. That is why this brand of car tires is popular for residents of the UK, for whom reliable driving in the rain is hardly not the most important thing in life.

In addition to excellent grip, it should be noted that this summer tire is also used by many Europeans as winter tires, especially in those areas where winters are not too frosty, for example, in Spain or Italy.

It should also be noted the original tread pattern, which provides the car with excellent handling and excellent behavior on the road during bad weather. The cost of such a kit pleasantly surprises users, and such a ratio of price and quality to meet in car tires is a very rare occurrence.

This model received the highest ratings among all winter tire models from Nokian. Why Suv? Because this model has been a bestseller among users in Europe and the world for several years now, and it is very difficult to deceive people.

The first thing you want to pay attention to is the absence of spikes. This is one of the few Finnish-made models that, without studs, keeps the car on the road much better than any other car tires that are equipped with studs.

All thanks to the optimized rubber compound, which includes the perfect combination of components. It is this complex, together with siping, that allows the tires to keep the car straight on a slippery cold road, virtually eliminating the possibility of uncontrolled deviation from the trajectory.

Nordman Suv is also characterized by the fact that it is one of the few models that behaves perfectly in temperature extremes. Most Nokian tires immediately begin to lose air pressure in tires in such a weather anomaly, the same model remains unchanged. We also note that the tires of this modification have an excellent resource and degree of wear resistance, which allows you to safely use such a set of winter tires for 5-6 seasons.

The fourth model, which was especially noted by experts, is the Nordman SX. Let's start with the fact that this model is the most purchased among all other modifications of car tires from the Finnish manufacturer Nokian. And this is no coincidence - tires have amazing qualities that allow the car to hold smoothly on any surface, even with a strong side wind.

Such gripping properties are regulated by the unique technology of tire production, as well as the composition of the rubber compound. In addition, a special optimized tread pattern was selected for this model, and all these features together gave a brilliant result - the car is completely safe when driving at high speed, no matter what road the car is moving on.

Also worth noting is the excellent rolling resistance and the highest hydroplaning properties, thanks to which the car, when driving on a wet surface, does an excellent job of pushing the water mass out of the contact patch, and therefore the maneuverability of the car in bad weather is still at a high level.

Summary

Considering the four models that were identified by experts, it becomes clear that Nokian car tire manufacturer cares about its customers, presenting only the best samples of its own production. By the way, it was very difficult for the experts to single out any specific models - according to them, the four selected models did not surpass all other modifications in their properties.

And this once again confirms that the Finnish manufacturer of car tires is not in vain considered in Europe and the world as one of the most recommended manufacturers that manufactures really high-quality products.

It is also worth noting that all modifications made by this plant have a long warranty and use period. In other words, the most reliable, durable and comfortable rubber is made on the basis of Nokian. Many may argue with this, but the opinion of independent experts remains unanimous and unshakable.