Hankook names new president & COO
Soo-Il Lee has been appointed president and chief operating officer of Hankook Tire, effective 1 January 2018.
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Hankook Tire extends Sinopec supply in China
Further growth in China is on the cards for Hankook Tire following an expansion of a retail agreement with China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec. Earlier this year, it entered into an agreement to supply truck and bus radials to Sinopec garage retail centres in seven of China’s 32 provinces, and adjusted production at one of the three Hankook tyre plants in China to accommodate expected demand. Yonhap News Agency reports this arrangement has now been extended to a further eight provinces.
Hankook Tire: Sales up 10% in Q3 2017
Increased sales of winter and ultra-high-performance tyres in Europe are credited with helping drive revenue at Hankook Tire up 10.1 per cent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2017.
Laufenn: Significant US sales growth expected this year
Amongst the first markets to receive Hankook Tire’s Laufenn brand was the United States, the location for the range’s introduction in November 2014. Since then, the brand has enjoyed continued growth, and Hankook Tire anticipates a 143 per cent year-on-year increase in Laufenn tyre sales in the US this year.
Hankook Tire talks electromobility and tyre development
When vehicle manufacturers talk about the future, the talk centres more and more on electric vehicles, and the timetable for their introduction is increasingly specific. During the IAA show in Germany a couple of months back, several major car makers announced or reiterated plans to bring all-electric models to market by 2020. This means that OEMs, including tyre makers, are already busy with preparations.
Official opening for Hankook’s US tyre plant
A grand opening ceremony has been held for Hankook Tire’s newest plant. The facility, located in Clarksville, Tennessee, is the tyre maker’s first manufacturing site in the United States and the eighth Hankook Tire factory worldwide. The opening ceremony was attended by Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam, United States Representative Marsha Blackburn, Korean Consul General Seong-jin Kim, along with many other prominent state and local officials.
Hankook OE on 2018 Honda Accord
Hankook Tire has been selected to become the main OE supplier for the all-new, tenth-generation 2018 Honda Accord. It will supply its Hankook Kinergy GT in size 225/50 R17V. The tyre maker hasn’t specified which markets this arrangement applies to.
Hankook presenting tyre developments at IAA
In addition to presenting a new summer product and design ideas for future mobility concepts, Hankook Tire says its focus at the IAA motor show next month will be on “innovations in premium original fitment tyres and the current winter tyre line-up.”
Hankook Tire assigned first-time rating from Moody’s and S&P
Hankook Tire has been assigned Baa2 and BBB ratings from the international credit rating agencies, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s (S&P). This is the first time that the tyre maker has been rated by Moody’s and by S&P, and it comments that this multi-national company level rating “reflects Hankook Tire’s strong position as a global premium tyre brand.”
Hankook Tire assigned first-time rating from Moody’s and S&P
Hankook Tire has been assigned Baa2 and BBB ratings from the international credit rating agencies, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s (S&P). This is the first time that the tyre maker has been rated by Moody’s and by S&P, and it comments that this multi-national company level rating “reflects Hankook Tire’s strong position as a global premium tyre brand.”
Court rules Hankook Tire partially responsible for worker’s cancer death
A South Korean court has ordered Hankook Tire to compensate the family of a former worker who died of lung cancer in 2015. According to an article published by The Korea Herald last Friday, the Seoul Central District Court ruled that the tyre maker was “partially responsible for the death of a factory worker surnamed Ahn who died of lung cancer caused by toxic chemicals.”
Hankook Tire outperforms European market in Q2 2017, global sales, profit lower
At KRW 1.667 trillion (£1.1 billion), Hankook Tire’s global sales in the second quarter of 2017 were 3.5 per cent lower than those in the corresponding period of last year. Operating profit for the three months to 30 June 2017 amounted to KRW 203.7 billion (£136.8 million), down 34.4 per cent year-on-year. Hankook Tire mainly attributes this decline in operating profit to increased raw material prices. EBIDTA was down 18.6 per cent year-on-year to KRW 352.7 billion (£236.9 million), and the margin declined from 25.1 per cent to 21.2 per cent.
Hankook Tire profits down in Q1 2017
Hankook Tire has reported sales of KRW 1639.2 billion (£1.1 billion) in the first quarter of 2017, an 0.8 per cent increase on its first quarter sales a year earlier. The Korean tyre maker attributes this slight rise in sales to strong volume growth in most regions, and to the “impressive” sales performance of its ultra-high performance tyres; sales of these products grew 1.4 per cent year-on-year (sales were up 11 per cent year-on-year in Europe and 26 per cent in China) and accounted for 36.7 per cent of total sales generated in Q1 2017.
Technotrac: Hankook Tire opens own winter test facility in Finland
With a decisive snip, more than a year’s work was officially complete. Four representatives from Hankook Tire’s global and European operations, suitably rugged up for the occasion, were on hand to open a facility that extends the tyre maker’s aim of self-contained development and manufacture of tyres for European markets. The inauguration of the ‘Technotrac’ facility gives Hankook Tire a permanent home alongside one of the world’s best-known winter test grounds, something that Ho-Youl Pae is very proud of.
Hankook Tire acquires Australia’s JAX Tyres
Australia’s JAX Tyres is now entirely owned by Hankook Tire. On 23 January, the South Korean firm acquired a 100 per cent stake in the franchise network of tyre retailers from its principal shareholder, company chairman Fred Hurrell, and others. The deal covers 83 outlets in the eastern states of Australia. While Hankook Tire hasn’t disclosed the sum it paid for JAX Tyres, Pulse shares that market observers estimate a KRW 100 billion (£68.8 million) price tag for the transaction.
