Nokian launches all-season tire for SUV/CUV market

DAYTON, Tenn. — Nokian Tyres P.L.C. not only broke ground on its first U.S. tire plant this week, it also launched one of the products it eventually plans to produce there.

The Finnish tire maker showed off the eNTYRE C/S, an all-season tire designed specifically for the North American sport-utility/crossover vehicle (SUV/CUV) market. The tire, which the company said will offer outstanding performance, durability, comfort and safety on wet, snowy and dry surfaces, will be available for dealers in early 2018.

One day after company executives and Tennessee politicians — including Nokian President and CEO Hille Korhonen and Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam — broke ground at the site of the $360 million plant, Nokian held a ride-and-drive event featuring the new tire.

A group of around 50 people, including Nokian dealers from Canada and the U.S., drove SUVs outfitted with eNTYRE C/S tires around the mountains and Tennessee countryside. The media and Canadian dealers drove from Chattanooga to Dayton, site of the plant. They took a boat ride on Lake Chickamauga from the picturesque Blue Water Resort in Dayton back to Chattanooga. The U.S. dealers made the trip in reverse.

Nokian officials said the eNTYRE fills a void in their product lineup.

"Several years ago we heard from you, our loyal customers, that we really need a new member to our all-season family," Matti Morri, technical customer service manager for Nokian, told dealers during his presentation. "At that time, we started the project, and now we are very proud to bring you the new member of our tire family."

Among the features of the new tire, according to Nokian, are:

• A stiff shoulder with robust blocks that offer stability and longitudinal support. The shoulder blocks are attached to each other at the edges with a longitudinal support bridge, improving handling.

• The tread pattern features four main grooves connected with lateral sipes, which the company said pushes water and slush away from under the car. The main grooves' high-polish finish also ushers water, according to Nokian, resisting hydroplaning. They also feature soft soil and snow grip enhancers that improve the grip when driving in muddy or snowy conditions.

• The sidewalls are reinforced with Aramid sidewall technology, giving the product durability and making it puncture-resistant due to the strong cut aramid fibers. The sidewalls also feature the Nokian Information Field, which allows for recording the correct inflation pressure, tightening torque and place under the car.

• The tire features Nokian's Driving Safety Indicator (DSI), which is in four places in the central rib. The numbers indicate the depth of the main grooves in percentages, which fade as the tire wears down, showing drivers when they should consider buying replacements.

• The tire's center rib uses variable left-right siping, where the openings switch from left to right with each sipe, allowing more sipe edges to be used. Nokian said this results in better grip while maintaining a stable and responsive driving feel.

• The tire also has a silent groove design that uses hemispherical indentations, resembling the surface of a golf ball, on the walls of the longitudinal center rib to control air flow. The indentations deaden sounds made by the edges of the transverse grooves. Nokian said its silent sidewall technology, constructed on the sidewall of the tire, removes noise and vibration carried from the driving surface by the tire tread.

"The Nokian eNTYRE C/S was developed specifically for North America where drivers want a safe-riding tire that performs year-round," said Tommi Heinonen, head of Nokian Tyres North America. "Widening our selection of all-season products is a direct result of our North American investment strategy and yet another example of Nokian Tyres' continued commitment to customers in the U.S. and Canada."

The tire initially will come in 30 sizes, from 16- to 20-inch rim diameters, with T and H speed ratings . The line features a 65,000-mile limited treadwear warranty.

According to Mr. Heinonen, the eNTYRE C/S will be priced 5 percent less than Nokian's eNTRYE 2.0, the company's other North American all-season SUV/CUV line.

The new tires are being produced at Nokian's plants in Russia and Finland, but once the Dayton facility is complete, production will be shifted to the U.S.