Nokian Tyres’ annual general meeting was held today at Finlandia Hall, where the new Hakkapeliitta 0.1 tire, with its studs in, studs out model, was also highly praised. Indeed, the vision for such a smart tire first emerged in 2014, but the design and testing phase lasted over ten years. For the past 3-4 years, the new product has been test-driven hundreds of thousands of kilometers in all kinds of weather conditions. Competitors have also tried to develop a similar tire over the years, without success. Naturally, the company holds numerous patents protecting the invention, which provides a clear competitive advantage for customers who need such a tire. Earlier this year, 500 customer representatives test-drove the Hakkapeliitta 0.1 at Ivalo’s unique, arctic test track.
Otherwise, the meeting focused on basic matters and a review. In practice, factory capacity is now ready for the targets of this strategy period, meaning they only require maintenance investments. 10% contract manufacturing is maintained for customer needs and to provide flexibility. Now, the biggest investments are directed towards sales and marketing, with Kimi Räikkönen and official sponsorship of the Ice Hockey World Championships in 2026 and 2027 being mentioned.
As is known, electric vehicle tires are subjected to greater wear on the road surface due to the car’s weight, requiring premium tires underneath, which Nokian Tyres manufactures – a good thing for the company.
The last couple of years have been sluggish for heavy tires; forest machines are not needed as before due to difficult times in the forest industry. Regarding the defense industry, I understood that the capacity is not sufficient for large-scale military vehicles and would need to be scaled up. Mainly, some kind of plan and vision from the EU was hoped for to meet the needs of the entire continent, to make the investment profitable.
Sustainability and emissions-free operations were discussed. Customers are not willing to pay extra but will, of course, gladly choose a lower-emission product from equally priced options.
Jukka Hienonen stepped down from the position of Chairman of the Board and also from the board itself, replaced by Jouko Pölönen. A new board member is Tom Adams, a Belgian with a Bridgestone background. Hienonen did not hide his satisfaction that, in the current chaotic geopolitical situation, the company has factories in Romania and the USA, openly admitting that it was a grave mistake at the time to put all eggs in one basket with the St. Petersburg factory. The situation is now good, as there is no need to worry about dollar exchange rate fluctuations or shipping tires across the world’s oceans.
Refreshments included a small savory pie and a sweet champagne pastry with coffee; a dividend of €0.25 per share was also approved.
These are the first things that came to mind; I will supplement if anything else comes to mind. I grant myself immunity from any potential errors and misunderstandings 
.