Nokian Tyres plc

11/15/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 11/15/2021 10:21

All-Season Tires Fuel the Growth in Central Europe

Mon November 15 05:57 pm 2021 in category Articles

All-Season Tires Fuel the Growth in Central Europe

Nokian Tyres organized a Capital Markets Day in September. In the event, Bahri Kurter, EVP, Central Europe, opened Nokian Tyres' strategy in Central Europe.

Nokian Tyres has already succeeded in increasing its market share in Central Europe. In the Capital Markets Day, the company confirmed the mid-term (3-5 years) target to capture and accelerate high value opportunities in Central Europe, and to grow overall business by 50%. In tires, this means growth from about six to nine million sold tires annually.

"Despite the unusual circumstances brought by covid-19, our team has done a great job, and market share has increased significantly. We are fully on track to reach the overall growth target of 50%", says Bahri Kurter, EVP, Central Europe.

What fuels our growth in Central Europe?

Changes in tire business are driven by two big consumer trends: convenience and sustainability. In practice this means increased demand for all-season tires, bigger rim sizes, growing fleet business, electric vehicles becoming mainstream and the rising impact of online.

"We are already growing our product portfolio with more market relevant offerings. We will capture the summer tire opportunity with the help of our new test center in Spain. We want to grow our presence in the biggest tire market in Germany and continue to expand our geographical presence in markets where our market shares are lower, like Italy, France and Spain", says Kurter.

The company's stronghold is Eastern Europe, where the company will leverage on its strong winter positioning.

Up to 80% of tires are already searched online in Europe, and 10-40% are bought online. Nokian Tyres will further develop its multichannel execution beyond wholesale, retail and online and pilot in the growing fleet business. The company is also streamlining its supply chain organization, which was relocated to Prague together with customer service.

To support growth in Central Europe, the company is investing a higher share in marketing to build brand awareness and consumer activation. A new senior sales team was also introduced at European level. All these changes have helped increase the market share to up to 3% in Central Europe.

"We have had strong growth in the all-season segment, but not at the expense of our stronghold, winter tire business. Our focus on large rim sizes has been very successful, as we gained market share and have been growing faster than the market. Now we want to continue where we have been successful", Kurter says.

Digital marketing will be intensified, but also physical retail via the NAD retail network and concept will be expanded. NAD's are the Nokian Authorized Dealers in Europe and they generate currently up to 27% of the company's business in Central Europe. Nokian Tyres is currently developing the next generation of NAD concept.

"And this is the key for us going forward. You know why? To connect the winning hearts and minds of European consumers going forward."

Bahri Kurter's presentation at the Capital Markets Day can be viewed here.