Nokian Tyres completes Dayton, US factory ramp-up

Nokian Tyres has opened a new finished goods warehouse in Dayton, Tennessee, marking the completion of a ramp-up process at the company’s US production facility.

Nokian Tyres began tyre production at the US factory in 2020 and has since expanded its operations by increasing production capacity, growing the team to approximately 500 employees, and enhancing capabilities to produce North American-specific all-season and all-weather car tyres. This year, production has been expanded to include light truck tyres.

“Nokian Tyres is pursuing growth in North America, and the Dayton factory is the centre of those efforts,” said Nokian Tyres vice president of Passenger Car Tyres Lauri Halme. “It allows us to serve growing demand for our all-season and all-weather tires in the United States and Canada, which complements our decades-long legacy of winter tire leadership.”

The finished goods warehouse, located adjacent to the US factory and spanning 32,500 square meters, was in mid-June. The warehouse can hold “hundreds of thousands of tyres”, according to officials. Tyres are shipped from the finished goods warehouse to Nokian Tyres’ nine-warehouse network across North America, from which the company serves dealers in the United States and Canada.

“The opening of our finished goods warehouse marks the completion of a growth process that took us from a 60-member launch team to a 500-colleague workforce,” said Nokian Tyres Dayton factory operations director David Korda. “We could not have reached this point without great dedication from our employees, and we are also grateful for the support we have received from the community, our customers and our colleagues around the globe.”

Nokian Tyres’ US factory is the first LEED v4 Silver-certified tyre production building in the world, according to the company. The factory is partially powered by solar energy, and onsite solar panels provide three megawatt-hours of energy every year.

Later this year, Nokian Tyres will open a new production facility in Romania, with officials reporting “it will be the world’s first zero CO2 emission tyre factory.” Tyres & Accessories contacted Nokian for further details relating to that point.