Curtis Brison is the new president of Hankook Tire North America (formerly Hankook Tire America). He succeeds Sooil Lee, who remains chief executive officer of Hankook Tire & Technology. Additionally, Hankook Tire North America has promoted Robert Williams to senior vice president of Truck, Bus and Radial (TBR) sales and Jong Jin (JJ) Park to vice-president of marketing.
Hankook Tire & Technology is jointly showcasing its ‘i-Flex’ non-pneumatic tyre with Hyundai Motor Company at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2022, which begins today in Las Vegas. The tyre will appear in Hyundai’s new Plug & Drive (PnD) Module, a modular platform based on robotics technology that enables mobility of traditionally inanimate things. Hankook says its i-Flex maximises the “characteristics and functions of the PnD module.”
Cho Hyun-bum has been officially inaugurated as chairman of Hankook & Company, holding firm for Hankook Tire & Technology. Hyun-bum is the younger son of former chairman Cho Yang-rai, who becomes the company’s honorary chairman.
Project TREE is the first attempt to establish natural rubber traceability using blockchain, and the UK is the first market where consumers can buy tyres containing verifiable sustainable rubber. Following the launch of traceable Pirelli tyres earlier this month, Hankook Tire & Technology is now distributing tyres manufactured through the project.
Ocean freight is in the midst of a predicament. The global shortage of shipping containers, primarily caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, has led to continued port congestion and freight prices at all-time highs. Hankook Tire & Technology has worked with Hapag-Lloyd AG, the world’s fifth largest liner shipping company, for more than 20 years and now aims to strengthen its logistics capabilities through a new partnership.
For many petrolheads, a lap of the Nürburgring is akin to a pilgrimage, and the circuit in Germany’s Eifel region is also a favourite site for performance car developers. Hankook Tire now has a presence in the neighbourhood, too. During a small ceremony held yesterday, the tyre maker officially opened the Nürburgring Workshop, a new branch office of its Hankook Europe Technical Centre (ETC).
The Hankook Group has acquired a majority shareholding in Preciseley Microtechnology Corp, a global specialist in optical MEMS (micro-electromechanical solutions) systems. In making the acquisition, Hankook is seeking synergies with complementary technologies to generate new business and growth opportunities. The most immediately obvious of these is Preciseley Microtechnology’s optical automotive applications for 3D environment detection.
Japan’s Itochu Corporation announced today the commercial launch of Project TREE, an initiative that uses a blockchain-based traceability system to ensure the sustainability and traceability of natural rubber. Partners participating in the Project include Itochu subsidiaries and tyre manufacturers, and the UK will be the first market to benefit.
A 32-million-euro investment in warehousing is taking place at Hankook Tire’s factory in Rácalmás, Hungary. Hankook has already begun building warehouses for the storage of both raw materials and finished tyres and anticipates that the facility will begin operating within a year.
Hankook Tire has obtained the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) PLUS mark, which recognises its sustainability initiatives throughout the entire value chain from sourcing of renewable raw materials to sustainable finished products. The tyre maker points out that it’s the first firm in the tyre manufacturing industry to gain this status.
Consolidated sales and operating profit may have been down year-on-year during the three months to 30 September 2021, but Hankook Tire was nonetheless pleased to experience “qualitative growth” during the quarter.
In May we shared that Hankook & Company Co., Ltd., the holding company of Hankook Tire & Technology Co., Ltd., had established a fund the previous month to facilitate the securing of a new growth engine. The company reports that this business portfolio, named S.T.R.E.A.M., has made its first investment. It has invested in Mobiltech, an artificial intelligence-based spatial information and service start-up, and is now contemplating potential joint projects with Hankook Tire.
The latest off-road product from Hankook Tire has arrived. The Dynapro MT2 is billed as the “the most capable and extreme off-road tyre Hankook has ever offered” and arrives equipped with the latest innovations from the manufacturer’s Technodome R&D centre. At launch this successor to the Dynapro MT is available in 19 popular dimensions that cover the 15- to 19-inch rim diameter range, with white ‘Dynapro’ sidewall lettering available on some sizes.
The results of comparative tyre tests are a familiar site on the pages of Tyrepress.com during the autumn, with numerous motoring associations and publications releasing the results of their all-season and winter tests at this time of year. Hankook was present in many of these and victorious in two, the Auto Bild Sportscars winter test and Auto Bild Allrad all-season evaluation. UK site Tyre Reviews also gave the Hankook entrant is editor’s recommendation, exclaiming that the brand seems “to be on a roll at the moment.”
Jamie Chadwick has once again been crowned champion of the Hankook-shod W Series. With a commanding double win on the final stop of the eight-race tour, at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, the British driver successfully defended her title with a fourth win for the season.
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