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(Redirected from Hankook Tire) South Korean tire manufacturer This article is about the tire manufacturer. For the country sometimes romanized as "Hankook", see Korea.
Hankook Tire & Technology Co., Ltd.
Native name한국타이어앤테크놀로지 주식회사
Company typePublic
Traded asKRX: 161390
IndustryAuto and truck parts
Founded10 May 1941; 83 years ago (1941-05-10) (as Chosun Tire Company)
FounderCho Hong-jai
HeadquartersBundang-gu, Seongnam-si, South Korea
Key peopleCho Hyun-bum (CEO)
BrandsHankook, Laufenn
RevenueKRW 8,394 billion (2022)
Net incomeKRW 705 billion (2022)
Number of employees21,000 Worldwide
ParentHankook & Company
Websitewww.hankooktire.com

Hankook Tire & Technology Co., Ltd. (Korean: 한국타이어앤테크놀로지 주식회사; Hanja: 韓國타이어앤테크놀로지株式會社; RR: Hanguk-Taieo-aen-Tekeunolloji Jusikhoesa; lit. '(South) Korea'), also known simply as Hankook (/ˈhæŋkʊk/ HANG-kuuk, Korean: [haːnɡuk̚]), is a South Korean tire company based in Seoul. It is the seventh largest tire company in the world. It is a part of Hankook & Company.

History

Hankook Tire was established in 1941 as "Chosun Tire Company"(Japanese: 朝鮮タイヤ工業) and was renamed to "Hankook Tire Manufacturing" in 1968. Hankook literally means "Korea". Chosun means beautiful morning.

The company now supplies tires as original equipment to various automakers. In addition to producing about 102 million tires annually, the company also sells batteries, alloy wheels, and brake pads.

In 2011, Hankook Tire Co. announced that the company will invest $1.1 billion to build a factory in West Java, Indonesia as part of a plan to become the 5th largest tire manufacturer in the world. On June 9, 2011 a ground breaking ceremony was held at a 60-hectare area as a regional hub production for export to Asian, North America and Middle East countries.

In October 2013, the company announced plans to open a new factory in Clarksville, Tennessee which was later opened in October 2017.

In November 2014, the company announced the launch of its sub-brand, Laufenn.

Facts and figures

According to Modern Tire Dealer, Hankook's new tire sales for 2007 were $3.5 billion, a 20.7% year-over-year increase from 2006 ($2.9 billion).

Global offices

The company has its headquarters in South Korea and has manufacturing facilities in South Korea, the People's Republic of China, Hungary, Indonesia, and the United States. It has technical centers in Daejon, Korea; Akron, Ohio; Hannover, Germany; Osaka, Japan; and China.

In April 2016, the company announced it would move its North American headquarters from Wayne, New Jersey, to Nashville, Tennessee. This move is reported to create up to 200 jobs in Davidson County and the company would be investing $5 million in the process.

Motorsports involvement

Hankook DTM tyres

Hankook entered motorsports in Europe, North America, and in Asia. They signed with FBR (Farnbarcher Racing) to race a Ferrari F430 GT with Hankook Tires in the 2009 Le Mans Series season. The company supplied tires for the Primetime Race Group that raced in the GT2 class of the American Le Mans Series in 2008. It supplied tires from 2007 to 2009 for IMSA Prototype Lites, a support series for the American Le Mans Series. Since 2009, the Hankook Team Farnbacher has competed in the GT class of the Le Mans Series. It also supplies tires for the Hankook KTR team that races in the Super GT and the Asian Le Mans Series and for the Formula 3 Euroseries.

In rallying, Hankook are the series sponsors of the Scottish Rally Championship. Its tires have been used at the European-based Intercontinental Rally Challenge as well.

Hankook was the tire supplier of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters from 2011 to 2020.

Hankook sponsored Formula Drift driver Chris Forsberg, a three-time champion (with his most recent championship coming as recent as the 2016 season), until the 2018 season.

Hankook was the official tire supllier for Super Taikyu championship series that held in Japan from 2021 until 2023. Due the fire severely damaged Hankook's Daejeon plant in 2023, the company withdrawn its supplying contract for the Super Taikyu series. As the result, Bridgestone took over Hankook's position in Super Taikyu on 24 April 2023 and effective immediately, as initially announced to start the contract for the 2024 season.

Hankook replaced Michelin as the official tire supplier for Formula E for its third-generation car starting from the 2022–23 season.

Starting in 2025, Hankook will be the tire supplier for the World Rally Championship, replacing Pirelli.

Sponsorships

Hankook sponsors Real Madrid, Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund, Ligue 1 club AS Monaco FC, and NIFL Premiership club Carrick Rangers.

Hankook was once the major sponsor of the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League.

Hankook sponsors the English rugby union team Northampton Saints.

Hankook sponsors the New Zealand Super Rugby team the Crusaders.

Hankook is one of the sponsors of the UEFA Europa League since 2012. In 2021, Hankook's partnership with UEFA was renewed and will include sponsoring the new UEFA Europa Conference League through the Laufenn brand.

Hankook is also involved in drifting sponsorship in a number of countries, most notably in North America in the Formula D championship and in Ireland in the Prodrift championship.

Hankook is the official tire supplier of the reality TV series Car Warriors.

From 2017 to 2022, Hankook was one of the major sponsors of the Kontinental Hockey League.

Hankook is also involved with simracing, as the main sponsor for Liga ZGT and ApexGT e-Sports, brazilians Gran Turismo Sport Simracing League.

Since 2018, Hankook has been the official tire of Major League Baseball and sponsored the 2020 MLB Wild Card Series.

Since 2019, Hankook is the main sponsor of SVRT, a Gran Turismo Sport SimRacing Team.

In 2021 Hankook will be sponsoring the 3DBotMaker Diecast Racing League on YouTube.

Awards

Traditionally, Hankook has applied for international product design competitions. The received awards are widely used in the company's marketing activities, for example, at specialized exhibitions, during training seminars for dealers, in printed catalogs and advertising. Hankook received most of the awards from the German-based organizations International Forum Design and Red Dot.

A list of awards that Hankook consumer tires have received at various times
Tire Competition Award Year
Hankook Optimo 4S H730 iF Design Award Winner 2009
Hankook Winter icept evo W310 Red Dot Design Award Honorable mention 2010
Hankook Ventus S1 evo2 K117 iF Design Award Winner 2012
Hankook Winter icept evo W310 Good Design Awards (Chicago Athenaeum) Good Design Awards 2012
Hankook Ventus V2 concept2 H457 Korean Good Design Award Good Design Awards 2013
Hankook Ventus V12 evo2 K120 Korean Good Design Award Good Design Awards 2013
Hankook Dynapro HP2 RA33 Korean Good Design Award Good Design Awards 2013
Hankook Ventus V12 evo2 K120 Red Dot Design Award Winner 2014
Hankook Kinergy 4S H740 iF Design Award Winner 2014
Hankook Ventus S1 evo2 K117 Good Design Awards (Japan Institute of Design Promotion) Good Design Awards 2014
Hankook Ventus S1 noble2 H452 iF Design Award Winner 2015
Hankook Ventus V2 concept2 H457 iF Design Award Winner 2015
Hankook Smart Flex AH31 iF Design Award Winner 2015
Hankook Winter icept evo2 W320 Red Dot Design Award Winner 2015
Hankook Winter icept evo2 W320 Korean Good Design Award Good Design Awards 2015
Hankook Winter icept evo2 W320 iF Design Award Winner 2016
Hankook Ventus Prime3 K125 Red Dot Design Award Winner 2016
Hankook Smart Flex AH35 Red Dot Design Award Winner 2016
Hankook Kinergy 4S2 H750 iF Design Award Winner 2019
Hankook Ventus S1 evo3 K127 Red Dot Design Award Winner 2019
Hankook Winter icept evo3 W330 Red Dot Design Award Winner 2020
Hankook Winter icept evo3 W330 iF Design Award Winner 2020
Hankook Dynapro AT2 RF11 Red Dot Design Award Winner 2020
Hankook Dynapro MT2 RT05 Red Dot Design Award Winner 2020

Hankook also earned several awards for its concept tires. The latest ones are the Hexonic smart tire for autonomous car sharing and the futuristic Aeroflow racing tire for motorsport competition. In 2019, both tires won the US-based International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA).

References

  1. "The world's largest tire producers in FY 2014, based on tire-related sales (in billion U.S. dollars)". Statistica.com.
  2. Fadillah, Rangga D. (January 20, 2011). "Hankook announces US$353 million investment". The Jakarta Post. Archived from the original on 2011-01-24.
  3. Yulisman, Linda (June 10, 2011). "Hankook to make RI production hub". Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  4. "Hankook Tire to invest $800 million to build first U.S. plant". Automotive News. Bloomberg News. October 14, 2013. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  5. "Hankook Tire Celebrates Grand Opening of First U.S. Manufacturing Plant" (Press release). Hankook Tire America Corp. October 17, 2022 – via PR Newswire.
  6. "Hankook Tire launches new brand Laufenn". Yonhap News Agency. November 6, 2014. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
  7. Tire, Hankook (November 5, 2014). "Hankook Tire Launches 'Laufenn' as New Global Tire Brand for Smart & Sensible Drivers". PR Newswire. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
  8. "Hankook to invest $5M in HQ move to Nashville (Update)". Tire Business. 2016-04-13. Retrieved 2016-04-14.
  9. "SRC homepage". SRC. 2010-11-19. Retrieved 2010-11-19.
  10. "Hankook Tire to Exclusively Supply Tires for Super Taikyu, Asia's Largest Endurance GT Series". 2020-12-07. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
  11. Klein, Jamie (2023-04-24). "Plant Fire Forces Hankook to Give Up Super Taikyu Supply". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
  12. O'Connell, RJ (2023-04-24). "Bridgestone Replaces Hankook as Super Taikyu Tyre Supplier with Immediate Effect". DailySportsCar.com. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
  13. "Hankook grabs Formula E tyre deal for Gen3". The Race. 2020-07-01. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  14. "Hankook Wins WRC Tyre Tender". 2023-12-06. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
  15. "Real Madrid present the agreement with Hankook Tire" (Press release). Real Madrid CF. 2016-08-31. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  16. "Hankook Tire Media Center & Press Room | Europe & CIS: Hankook Tire France becomes sponsor of AS Monaco". www.hankooktire-mediacenter.com. Archived from the original on 2020-11-11.
  17. "Carrick Rangers Football Club 2023-24". www.carrickrangers.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
  18. UEFA.com (27 August 2021). "Hankook Tire renews longstanding UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League partnership | Inside UEFA". UEFA.com.
  19. Stephen (27 August 2021). "Laufenn tyre brand to sponsor UEFA Europa Conference". Tyrepress.
  20. Staff, Tire Review (27 July 2020). "Hankook Tire Presents MLB Marketing Campaign". Tire Review Magazine. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  21. Staff, Tire Review (30 September 2020). "Hankook Tire Sponsors MLB Wild Card Series". Tire Review Magazine. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  22. "About Hankook tires". Autoset.

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