Nokian Tyres plc and Qingdao Sentury Tire Co. have signed a contract manufacturing agreement, whereby Sentury will start to manufacture selected Nokian Tyres’ passenger car tyres for the Central European market. Tyres manufactured at the partner’s production facility are designed by Nokian Tyres and have been tested in Nokian Tyres’ testing facilities to meet the company’s high requirements for safety and quality. Tyres will be sold under the Nokian Tyres brand.
Nokian Tyres 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 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 it secures the availability of the company’s high-quality tyres in the Central European market.
The start-up of the production will be in the first half of 2023 and the first tyres 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.
Along with the contract manufacturing, Nokian Tyres is advancing its efforts to increase its own production. As announced in early November, the company will invest EUR650 million 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.
“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/CEO of Nokian Tyres.