The Finnish group Nokian Tires will invest 650 million euros to build a car tire factory in Romania, the first factory with zero CO2 emissions

By RBJ
The Finnish tire manufacturer Nokian Tires announced on Tuesday that it will invest 650 million euros for the construction of a new factory in Oradea/Romania. Tires for cars will be produced in the new location.
The factory will have the capacity to produce six million tires per year and the first tires should roll off the production lines in the second half of 2024. Commercial production is expected to start in early 2025, Nokian Tires said. in a press release. The Finnish group, which also manufactures in Finland and the USA, announces that this will be the first tire factory with zero CO2 emissions. “We can use the green energy produced near the plant”, stated the director of operations at Nokian Tyres, Adrian Kaczmarczyk.
Nokian, which was previously responsible for 80% of Russia’s car tires, was looking for a new location for a production facility after it made the decision to pull out of Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
On September 14, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă had a meeting with a delegation from the Nokian Tires company. According to Agerpres, the discussions focused on the state aid packages available for large investments and the openness shown to the needs of relocating industrial production capacities as a result of the Russian military aggression in Ukraine, but also in the Asian area.
The tire manufacturer Nokian Tires targets, in the medium term, net sales of two billion euros, as well as an operating profit and return on capital employed at a level of 20%.
In 2020, the company’s net sales were 1.3 billion euros, and the number of employees reached approximately 4,600. The tire brand is currently sold in more than 60 countries. Nokian has more patents for winter tires than any other manufacturer in the field.