Today I went to change tires at Vianor in Malmi, and there it was announced that the branch will be closed and operations will merge with the larger Suutarila branch. I also asked the staff what the reason for this was, and they said it was about streamlining.
Is this streamlining more broadly underway at Vianor?
A good move from an investor’s perspective, that streamlining is happening and costs are decreasing.
Based on the layoffs of production staff, one can conclude that sales are sluggish:
Nokian Tyres Plc Press Release 24 November 2025 at 9:00 a.m.
Nokian Tyres has concluded change negotiations in Finland. The negotiations concerned salaried employees and senior salaried employees in global functions and in all Nokian Tyres’ business units, as well as employees, salaried employees, and senior salaried employees in passenger car and heavy tyre production in Nokia.
The negotiations will result in the termination of 35 permanent salaried or senior salaried employee positions. In addition, duties will be reorganized. The measures will be implemented by the end of 2025. At the beginning of the negotiations, the number of positions to be terminated in Finland was estimated at 55.
The adjustment measures also include the temporary layoff of approximately 650 employees, salaried employees, and senior salaried employees working in passenger car and heavy tyre production at the Nokia factory for a maximum of 90 days per person by the end of 2026.
The negotiations in Finland were part of an overall plan aimed at improving financial performance and operational efficiency, which the company announced on 28 October 2025. Negotiations or other similar measures have been carried out in other countries in compliance with local legislation. Measures in other countries will continue as necessary.
Further information: media@nokiantyres.com
It could very well be that production is increasingly shifting to Romania, away from expensive Finland. Soon you’ll hardly get passenger car tires made anywhere else but Romania. Heavy tires, however, have always come from Finland.
Indeed, regarding passenger car tires, my understanding is that sales are not growing at the same pace as capacity. For this year, subcontracting was already significantly reduced compared to two years ago, and as Romanian volumes grow more substantially next year, Nokian’s production is being prepared for reduction. Quite logical, then, but of course, a couple of years ago, the company (and we too) believed that growth would occur within the limits of capacity.
On the heavy side, the market has been weak for a long time, and layoffs have occurred there before, so in that regard, the situation largely remains unchanged.
Now that the shares were sold from the model portfolio, I hope a neutral tone is maintained in the forecasts. There’s easily a temptation to be a tad more negative, as if to prove something to oneself 
As I said earlier, if the adjusted operating profit triples in the 2024-28 forecasts, I would still argue that the sentiment is even positive
Yeah, there’s nothing wrong with them. P/E=8.5 would be in 2028. The stock price could rise by 50% in 3 years. It’s just strange that it’s not good enough for the model portfolio
As I recall, the Helsingin Sanomat article that presented the Romanian factory stated that an employee’s salary there is ~2000e/month. If we consider that Romania is logistically far from the Northern European winter tire market, then the total costs might even be quite close to Finland’s level. In Finland, the basic factory worker’s salary without benefits is indeed around 2000-2200, and with benefits, it’s 2500-2600. When considering a slightly longer perspective (5 years +), the cost difference between Finland and Eastern Europe seems to have been bridged, as salaries there are rising faster than in Finland. I would argue that the political risk is higher in Romania than in Finland, and therefore it might be quite good not to move all production there just to optimize short-term results.
In Finland, at least, an employee costs much more than just the salary that goes to the employee. Will all costs be recouped in a few years?
Nokian Renkaat Oyj - Salary Comparison
Here again are the self-reported salaries of Nokian Tyres employees. One reported 2100e in 2021, otherwise they hover around 3000e-4000e.
The most essential thing in this comparison is not how much the employee’s salary is, but how much it costs Nokian Tyres.
In Romania, employer’s side costs are less than 5%, in Finland over 20%.
In Romania, the employer pays for 20 days of vacation, no holiday bonus (lomaltapaluuraha), 50% of vacation pay.
In Finland, the employer practically pays for 4-5 weeks of vacation and additionally a holiday bonus (lomaltapaluuraha) in almost all sectors.
Finnish salaries can remain stagnant for a while longer and Romanian ones rise before parity is reached.
They certainly pay high salaries there then. Thank you for correcting my erroneous assumptions. It seems the overall difference is so large that it won’t be closed even in 5 years. In the long term, a certain trend is the narrowing of personnel costs.
The speed duo – rally legend Markku Alén and journalist Marko Terva-aho – this time travels to Nokian Tyres’ White Hell in Ivalo, the world’s largest winter tire testing center.
Yeah, and in Finland, 20% is nowhere near enough for ancillary costs. 40% is quite close to reality. Just TyEL (employees’ pension insurance) is already 25%, on top of that holiday pay, holiday bonuses, public holidays, sick pay, reduced working hours leave, etc. So, Romania probably won’t reach Finland’s cost structure anytime soon.
The employer’s ancillary costs are quite close to 20%. No employer pays 25% TyEL contributions. The employee’s share is 7.15%. Holiday pay and holiday bonuses are not ancillary costs.
They are wage costs.
[quote=“kobi, post:3662, topic:663”]
However, they are reflected in
Yes, holiday bonuses and holiday pay, as well as sick leaves and public holidays, are practically indirect costs, even though people often want to think otherwise. However, they are reflected in Finland’s expensive cost structure.
Well, now this comment went to a more general level, so that’s that.
Here are Rauli’s comments on European new car sales in October, which also slightly affects Renkaat (Tires).
According to ACEA (European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association), new car sales in the European Economic Area were up 5% year-on-year in October, totaling 1.1 million units. October was already the fourth consecutive month of growth, so the market appears to be on a slight upward trend. For the entire year to date, sales are up 2% year-on-year. ACEA’s statistics include the United Kingdom in addition to the countries belonging to the European Union and EFTA. In the Nordic countries, development was varied, with Sweden and Norway declining by 4%, but Finland grew by 5%. We have previously commented on Finland’s figures in this comment.
Aapeli wrote about Deere’s market outlook, including forest machines, which are also relevant for Nokian Heavy Tyres. The market thus continues to be sluggish, but is rather turning to a slight increase next year. However, the level is weak, and for this reason, Nokian Tyres also continues layoffs in the Heavy Tyres segment.
!An interesting announcement; I can’t assess more precisely what that means in practice. It’s probably good news for Nokian Tyres in any case, if not directly from the perspective of sales or financial figures development, then at least in terms of sentiment. Räikkönen certainly seems to have plenty of personal visibility and recognition.
Someone commented that Kimi has 3 million Instagram followers. The Rings have 8,000. Just one post from Kimi and the visibility is 500 times greater. At least there’s a younger approach with the new management of the Rings.