Nokian Tyres plc is now evaluating products at its new test center in Spain, which will enable the company to speed up its tire development cycles.
The center - which is Nokian's third testing facility - encompasses 10 separate test tracks for dry, wet and high-speed evaluation.
“Now we can test our tires in our own test center in all the conditions they are developed for," says Olli Seppala, Nokian's head of research and development.
"This is a big competitive advantage for us – especially when considering the products developed for the central European market, as well as for the North American market.
“All our test centers are investments in innovation and the expansion of testing activities is a big and important leap for us. The versatile tracks and modern equipment of the Spain test center enable us to test tires on wet and dry, so that heavy rain or intense heat will not bring any surprises.
"The Spain test center, combined with our Ivalo winter test center in Lapland (Finland), takes our overall testing capability to the highest possible level."
Construction work at the Spain test center began in 2018, but was temporarily halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Similar test centers are rarely built in the world and the world-class test conditions increase our credibility as a premium tire manufacturer,” says Jukka Kasi, Nokian's senior vice president of products and innovations.
