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.
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.
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 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.
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 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 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.”
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.”
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 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.
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.
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.
A ‘Design Insight Forum’ is taking place today at the new Hankook Technodome in South Korea. According to Hankook Tire, the Design Insight Forum is a platform for cultivating future leaders and unveiling “best of the best” cutting-edge concepts.
Hankook Tire and its holding company Hankook Tire Worldwide have announced a round of executive appointments that will take effect on 1 January 2017. The first day of the new year sees Hankook Tire Worldwide take on two new senior vice-presidents and two vice-presidents, while Hankook Tire has promoted one new senior vice-president and 14 vice-presidents.
Speculation is rife in South Korea regarding who’ll acquire the 42.1 per cent shareholding in Kumho Tire that is currently up for sale. Pirelli parent company ChemChina has already been named as a prospective buyer, as have Continental and Michelin. One tyre company can, however, be ruled out as a new Kumho Tire shareholder.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.