Hankook Hungary production reaches 25 million unit mark
In the four and a half years since Hankook Tire’s Rácalmás plant in Hungary entered production, the facility has produced a tyre or two. In fact, the company shares that the 25th million tyre rolled off the production line in November 2011 – and the facility’s current capacity means it will take only half this time to manufacture the next 25 million tyres.
Since the initial opening of the plant in 2007, capacity has been growing steadily. Hankook reports a total of six million tyres were produced in 2010 and more than nine million a year later. In 2012 this figure is expected to grow to 12 million units per annum. Facilitating this growth is the ahead of schedule completion of the plant’s second production unit, and Hankook comments that increasing demand for its tyres across Europe and expanding original equipment sales is also fuelling higher output.
The 2,000 or so workers in Rácalmás produce over 500 different specifications of passenger car, 4×4 and light commercial vehicle tyre. Proportionally, the number of UHP tyres produced there is on the rise at present, Hankook reports. Original equipment supplies to Volkswagen, Hyundai and Kia’s European factories account for more than ten per cent of total production, and the tyre maker expects this figure to further grow in 2012.
“Our state-of-the art European factory is the heart of our European operation and has key role in our business strategy as Europe is one of the most important markets for Hankook Tire,” said Jin-Wook Choi, European head of Hankook Tire.
Sang II Lee, managing director of Hankook Tire Hungary Ltd, added: “Reaching the 25-millionth-tyre mark in our Hungarian factory is another important milestone in our history in Europe. We are proud of our outstanding achievements and glad that our efforts and the contributions of our highly committed employees have been paying off as the increasing recognition of our high quality products in the possibly most demanding tyre market Europe gives proof of.”
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