We may not know a lot about Nokian Tyres other than that it comes from Finland, but apparently it is doing very well particularly in Europe. Their tyres are highly rated with loyal customers who keep coming back for more, not least because of repeated good reviews from the media.
Funnily enough, that’s what got them in trouble recently.
As if following the recent footsteps of a few large automotive companies which seem to put company interest far above the customers’ (Volkswagen and Takata comes to mind), Nokian was found to have been supplying tyres meant for media tests which was ‘tweaked’ for better performance, while selling tyres of a different quality to customers.
Apparently, this drill has been going on for as long as 10 years, as uncovered by Finnish newspaper, Kauppalehti. They made this claim based on interviews with people in the company as well as going through internal emails.
What makes this incident different is that the company actually admits to everything – however specifically saying that Nokian stopped supplying the media with ‘custom’ tyres since 2015, which coincides with the arrival of current CEO, Ari Lehtoranta.
In a recent press release, the company apologises “for our actions in the past and want to earn the trust of the customers…”
In the same statement, Nokian assures the public that any possible malpractices related to testing have been rectified. At the same time, the company has completed a review of its practices in order to increase openness and transparency in all activities.
Nokian also states that the more objective tyre testers obtain their tyres by purchasing them from retailers, not asking from the manufacturer. And even then, their products have scored favourably, stressing that their products have always been safe and something which has never been compromised on.
There you go. Company caught cheating, company admits wrongdoing, company apologises and vows to do right. Seems fair, right? Yet why do we have a feeling that maybe most corporations are getting increasingly laidback in trying to get away with more and more dubious practices?
