It is maybe not so surprising that some of the best tyres are made in the Nordics as that is where you find some of the harshest weathers. Some of the best performing cars in winter conditions came from Sweden, where you then had both Volvo and SAAB being manufactured there, where nowadays the production of Volvo has moved abroad, and SAAB has ceased its production. Their cars were built for the cold winter conditions and would start and were both highly regarded as the safest cars.
Both Sweden and Finland had tyre manufacturing, but for Sweden that production was moved to Portugal a very long time ago after it was sold to a German company. Nowadays you only have production in Finland and they also have a test center referred to as white hell, which is the northernmost test center in the world and home of some of the harshest winter conditions. This allows for some of the best testing conditions that allow you to develop the best tyres for arctic winter conditions. The Finnish manufacturer Nokian Tyres was actually the inventor of winter tyres back in 1935.
When you select premium tyres from manufacturers that invest a lot of money into research and development to ensure that they are continuously test and improve the quality and performance you will have much better tyres that if you choose tyres from a manufacturer that merely copies what the others are doing. The problems that come with that tends to be poorer quality that will lead to higher wear and fuel costs plus worse performance and safety. This is why it is not a good trade off to go for cheaper tyres, as you probably end up paying more for less.
The Nordic countries have winter tyre legislations, which make it a requirement to have winter tyres on the vehicle when you have winter conditions, or some have a set time period when you have to have the winter tyres mounted. If you get stopped and you are not complying you will be fined and if you are in an accident the insurances might be invalidated. The alternating between winter and summer tyres is normal and people don’t see it as a big hassle. A lot of people use the tyre service stations to store the tyres, so it is just to drop by there and get the tyres changed before and after the winter.
The concept of all-season tyres, which is more for Central Europe, isn’t really a concept in the Nordics. There you really require the best performance out of your winter tyres and the tyres have to be optimized to handle the harshest winter conditions. The all-season tyres are an all-round tyres that are a hybrid between summer and winter tyres that combine the best of both. If you are to select all-season tyres, then select ones that are winter approved and made in a Nordic country.
For more information regarding a range of Nordic winter tyres, visit: https://www.nokiantyres.com/