Image: Derrick Frilund / Yle

The Nokian Tyres company is set to build a new factory in Dayton, Tennessee in the United States.

The facility is expected to employ some 400 people and cost about 330 million euros to build. Construction is to begin early next year and be finished by 2020.

The company currently produces its products mainly in St. Petersburg, Russia and at slightly lower volumes in the Finnish city of Nokia – where the company began in 1932 as a division of the Nokia Corporation. It was spun off as a separate firm in 1988, before Nokia's rise to world domination as a mobile phone maker.

The tyres to be produced in Dayton are planned for sale almost exclusively for cars in North America.

The new factory will produce an estimated 4 million tyres annually to begin with, compared to the 20 million units manufactured in existing facilities.

Looking up

Nokian Tyres released its interim report on Wednesday. The company's Q1 performance has improved apace compared with last year's figures, sped on by resurgent Russian markets.

Profits grew by nearly 17 percent, reaching 59 million euros. The company's turnover increased by a similar 18 percent, to 326 million euros.

The expanding company expects its turnover to leap by another 10 percent in 2017.

Last year Nokian Tyres faced controversy after revelations that it had manipulated test results and sold identical tyres for different prices under various product names.