you might be interested in this :- Reading between the lines would indicate that summer tyres for the AUSTRALIAN market would likely to be manufactured in Indonesia or China
Finland production and testing facilities
Nokian Tyres produces 23,000 tyres per day at a factory in Nokia, Finland, and 200,000 tyres a year under the Bridgestone brand name.[62] The original factory was built in 1904, the current one in 1945; it has expanded several times since then.[5] Nokian Tyres has 27 assembly lines at its Finnish plant.[63] The plant uses radio frequency devices to monitor the inventory of materials used to manufacture tyres, such as the 100-metre long strips of rubber tread. Shortages of rubber tread can halt production and so keeping an adequate supply of materials increases efficiency. Despite trade journals discussing this technique, Nokian declines to confirm its production methods.[63]
Because of the short summer in Finland, Nokian tests summer tyres at other locations. During the winter, the testing of summer tyres takes place in South Africa.[65] Nokian also tests tyres at the Applus+ IDIADA facilities in El Vendrell, Spain, and the ATP facilities in Papenburg, Germany.[65]
Vsevolozhsk, Russia factory
Nokian produces approximately 6,000 tyres daily and employs 510 employees at its factory in Vsevolozhsk, Russia near Saint Petersburg, and plans to increase manufacturing capacity to 10 million tyres annually by 2011.[59][66] The factory was established in 2005.[59] In 2006, it expanded its facilities there, adding a mixing department and a 19,000-square-metre (200,000 sq ft) warehouse capable of housing 600,000 tyres. The new mixing department gives the factory the capability to produce rubber compounds on-site instead of importing them from the factory in Nokia, Finland. The Vsevolozhsk factory manufactures Nokian-branded car tyres, the majority of which are sold in Russia and countries of the former USSR.[67] Nokian plans to build 300 housing units and sell them to employees at cost as part of the Russian factory expansion that is scheduled to be completed by 2011.[68]
Contract production of tyres
Nokian Tyres licenses production of its tyres to companies in the United States (Bridgestone, LaVergne, Tennessee plant),[62] Slovakia (Matador, Puchov plant),[69] Indonesia (PT Gajah Tunggal Tbk company),[70][71] and the People's Republic of China (Giti Tire),[72][73] as well as contracts manufacture of agriculture and industrial tyres in Spain and India. In the past, some United States contract manufacturing was done by Cooper Tire's Findley, Ohio plant. Contract manufacture by Giti Tire includes production of up to 500,000 Nokian summer tyres with expansion up to 1.5 million tyres per year.[44] Some Nokian agricultural and industrial tyres were made under contract by the Tofan Grup in Romania for two years until December 1999, when Nokian Tyres withdrew, citing quality standards.[74] Contract manufacture of these types of heavy tyres was then undertaken by Michelin at its Polish plant in Stomil-Olsztyn from 2000[74] until 2005, when Nokian began to shift contract manufacture of industrial tyres to Bridgestone's factory in Bilbao, Spain and agricultural tyres to Balkrishna Tyres in Bhiwadi, India.[75] With an increase in tyre demand as a result of improving economies, Nokian is considering increasing production as well as outsouring additional tyre manufacture in Asia.[76]
I had Nokian's on my BMW at one stage never any issues and have used their winter tyres for years (when you can get them)
