DENVER — Nokian Tyres Inc. is rolling out an advertising/information campaign ahead of the 2019-20 winter season that's designed to raise awareness about "all weather" versus "all season" tires.
Nokian — which lays claim to being the inventor of the all-weather tire concept — has created a dedicated website, nokiantires.com/weather, where consumers can learn about the performance attributes of all-season versus all-weather tires.
"Unfortunately, the 'all-season' label is a misnomer in many areas of North America," Steve Bourassa, Nokian Tyres' director of products and pricing, said.
"While all-season tires don't adequately protect drivers on snowy, icy roads, … all-weather products are well-suited for areas with unpredictable winter weather."
All-weather tires carry the industry's three-peak mountain snowflake severe service emblem, which indicates they meet the necessary standards to be certified in winter weather. The symbol means the tires are legal for winter driving in places that require winter tires during that season, Nokian said.
Nokian Tyres — whose Hakkapeliitta winter tire range is often among the best in independent winter tire testing — is onto its fourth generation of all-weather products, the Nokian WR G4 and WR G4 SUV, which it promotes as being "well-suited" for locales like Colorado, which recently passed a state law extending the dates when drivers are required use winter-rated tires in the Rocky Mountains if they do not have four-wheel drive.
Nokian's complementary advertising campaign uses the tagline, "Forget the Forecast."