Nexans is making efforts to build its own tire testing center

Nexen Tire has announced the establishment of a dedicated winter tire testing center at the UTAC proving ground in Ivalo, Finland. The new testing center will serve as a foundation for winter tire performance testing and R&D.
With the launch of this testing center, Nexen plans to strengthen winter tire performance testing and R&D.

Rubber hardens at low temperatures, limiting grip, so specialized rubber compounds and customized tread patterns must be used. Therefore, rigorous testing in a specialized facility is essential, and the new testing facility is fundamental to support these efforts.

Nexen has been using the UTAC testing facility in Finland under a short-term contract. However, with growing demand for test location bookings, securing sufficient testing time has become challenging. To address this, the company is establishing a dedicated testing center to ensure stable winter testing throughout the season. The expansion will extend the winter tire testing period from one month to four months. Nexen intends to expand its R&D skills by establishing a dedicated test track.

Located within UTAC, 300 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle, the center provides an ideal environment for testing tire performance in extreme winter conditions. The facility will feature R&D offices, workshops and an ice and snow track, with an area equivalent to 20 football fields (approximately 2,000 meters long). UTAC will oversee the construction and operation of the center, which is expected to begin full operations in December 2025.

The center will also conduct testing to obtain the 3PMSF (Three Peaks Mountain Snowflake) label, the standard certification for winter tires in Europe. This capability will further enhance Nexen Tire's competitiveness in the European market. Nexen also has winter tire test centers in Taebaek, South Korea and Wanaka, New Zealand, which conduct tire testing in a variety of winter conditions throughout the year.

"As European winter tire standards strengthen, this investment is a key step to ensure our technological competitiveness," said Travis Kang, Nexen Tire's global CEO. "The test center will not only shorten our development cycle, but will also improve the performance of our winter tires through core technology research, further strengthening our position in the European market, which accounts for approximately 40% of our total sales, while laying the foundation for future growth in the global market."

"We are pleased to welcome Nexen Tire to establish its own facility at our Finnish proving grounds," said Connor McCormack, CEO of UTAC. "We now have a long-term partnership and we are proud to support Nexen's development work and participation in leading the future of mobility to a safer one." Nexen has successfully expanded its brand influence in recent years to enhance its brand soft power, coupled with continuous efforts in product technology and innovation.

The enhancement in product functions, technological quality and customer perception is enough to show that the brand has gained a firm foothold among many luxury brand car manufacturers. Nexen's continuous development of cutting-edge technology and the increasing maturity of high-end supporting products will allow Nexen to enter an era of rapid development of brand power.