NOKIA, Finland (Feb. 19)—Nokian Tyres P.L.C. is planning to build a passenger tire factory near St. Petersburg, Russia, in the coming 12 to 18 months at a cost of about $67 million.
Nokian's plan is in addition to its off-take production agreements with Russia's Amtel Group. The new factory will have initial annual capacity for 1.5 million tires, the company said, with expansion to 8 million units a year over a 10-year period.
Nokian plans to start production at the facility during 2005. The plant will produce Nokian-branded tires, primarily for the growing Russian market at first. In Russia, Nokian is marketing both its own brand and the Nordman brand produced under contract by the Amtel companies.