It’s official: Hankook Tire has submitted a tender for Formula 1 tyre supply between 2020 and 2023. In response to questions from within our publishing group, Felix Kinzer, director of corporate communications at Hankook Tire Europe, confirmed that the company submitted an application prior to the 31 August deadline.
Under a new partnership, Hankook Tire has become a sponsor to Association Sportive de Monaco, runner-up in France’s top football league last season. The tyre maker’s partnership with AS Monaco FC will initially cover a two-year period and gives Hankook brand exposure at the club’s home ground, the Louis II stadium in Fontvieille, during Ligue 1 home matches as well as hospitality opportunities.
It boasts ingredients that include vegetable oil and resin extracted from conifer pines, and it may be coming to a tyre shop near you in 2019 – Hankook Tire has introduced its second generation of electric vehicle tyre, the Hankook Kinergy AS EV.
With his win at Brands Hatch last weekend, Paul Di Resta closed the gap with championship leader, fellow Mercedes-Benz driver Garry Paffett, to just 29 points in the overall standings. This was Di Resta’s third win in Brands Hatch and the tenth of his DTM career. Gary Paffett crossed the finish line as runner-up after 40 laps of racing.
Between 2006 and 2013, the DTM touring car series was a regular visitor to the Brands Hatch circuit in Kent, and following a four-year hiatus DTM drivers will race there once again this weekend. Instead of using the 1.2-mile Indy circuit favoured in past years, the action in 2018 will take place on the full, 2.4-mile GP circuit.
At KRW 1.67 trillion (£1.14 billion), sales were up 2.3 per cent year-on-year for Hankook Tire in the second quarter of 2018, however this didn’t stop operating profit slipping 10.4 per cent to KRW 183.2 billion (£125.3 million). According to the tyre maker, operating profit was reduced compared with the same period of last year due to initial operating costs in its tyre plant in Tennessee, USA as well as increasing competition in the Korean market. The operating margin decreased from 12.3 per cent to 10.7 per cent.
Groupe Renault has selected Hankook Tire as recipient of its Corporate Social Responsibility award for this year. The tyre maker was one of 12 awardees at this year’s Groupe Renault Supplier Award ceremony to be acknowledged in five sectors – Best Service, Design, Innovation, Purchasing sustainability, and Quality.
Another tyre wholesaler in Germany is now in manufacturer hands. Hankook Tire has announced the 100 per cent equity purchase of independent wholesaler and retailer Reifen Müller. The acquisition gives Hankook Tire ownership of Reifen Müller’s sales distribution affiliate company, Reifen Müller KG, its 44 retail service outlets and the Reifen Müller GmbH & Co. Runderneuerungswerk KG retreading business.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) covering the co-development of synthetic rubber technologies has been signed between Hankook Tire and Arlanxeo. Under the terms of the MoU, the two companies will jointly study and develop new high-performance synthetic rubber grades and applications, with the aim of increasing tyre performance from the early stages of product development.
Hankook Tire has won another original fitment order covering both summer and winter tyres, this time for the current BMW X3. The third-generation X3, which was introduced last year, will be available with the Ventus S1 evo² SUV in size 225/60 R18 104 W XL and with Hankook’s winter i*cept evo² SUV in 225/60 R18 104 H XL.
Back in 1994, a little-known tyre brand called Hankook entered the all-season market in Europe with the Optisuper. A lot has changed for the tyre maker since then, but it is still firmly in the all-season tyre business – and has now introduced its fifth-generation tyre, the Hankook Kinergy 4S².
Look carefully for the superscript – Hankook Tire has unveiled its fifth generation of all-season tyre for Europe. It’s called the Hankook Kinergy 4S², and despite the naming similarities is a completely redeveloped product. The Kinergy 4S² comes to market in June 2018 with a launch range of 17 sizes in the 14- to 17-inch rim diameter bracket. From the second half of the year, the range will be expanded to 64 sizes for 14- to 20-inches.
Even though Hankook Tire is now – as are many within the tyre industry – making final preparations for next week’s The Tire Cologne, the tyre maker is already getting ready for the 2018 IAA Commercial Vehicles fair. Offering a sneak preview of what we can expect to see this September, it shares that the show in Hannover, Germany will host the world premiere of a new Hankook mixed on- and off-road tyre line-up that includes steer, drive and trailer axle fitments. Hankook Tire also intends to announce further growth in its business with truck OEMs.
In a few hours’ time Marseille will square up against Atletico Madrid in this season’s Europa League final, with the Spanish side given short odds to be holding the trophy high at the close of play. Hankook Tire is present in Lyon as sponsor and announced today its commitment to take part in the excitement for a further three years: The tyre maker’s UEFA Europa League support has been extended until the end of the 2020-21 season.
By acquiring a 75 per cent equity stake in high-tech digital prototype company ‘Model Solution Ltd.’, Hankook Tire hopes to benefit from synergies gained by combining the company’s know-how with that of its affiliate, super-size mould equipment company M&K Technology. The tyre maker paid KRW 68.6 billion (£47.3 million) for the stake.
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