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.
Guinness World Records has acknowledged the Hankook Tire-supported ‘Volkswagen ID.4: Great Roadshow through the U.S.’ as the longest continuous journey by an electric vehicle (non-solar) in a single country. The 35,000-mile trip took place between 13 July and 18 October. The team’s VW ID.4 visited all 48 contiguous US states in all-electric mode, thereby breaking the previous record that was set in 2019.
SpeedMate claims to be South Korea’s leading automotive aftermarket brand, and tyres are just one of many products sold through its outlets and Tire Pick O2O platform. The SK Group company has now entered into an agreement with Hankook Tire & Technology for the supply of an exclusive tyre brand, Roadmate.
The International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) 2021 have honoured Hankook Tire as a finalist in the Automotive and Transportation category for its Hankook Platform System (HPS)-Cell innovation. HPS-Cell has already won a Red Dot Design Award in the Mobility and Transportation category in July and was announced as winner of the iF Design Award 2021 in the Professional Concept category in April.
Hankook will serve as exclusive tyre partner to the relaunched Deutsche Tourenwagen Challenge (DTC), a German motorsport series aimed at young and amateur drivers and contested by affordable cars with a maximum engine capacity of 1.65 litres such as the Ford Fiesta ST, Hyundai i20 N, Peugeot 208, Renault Clio Cup or Toyota Yaris. All vehicles will compete on Hankook Ventus Race tyres when the series gets underway next year.
The 2015-launched Hankook Winter i*cept RS² is still delivering strong performances in comparative tyre tests, such as its ‘good’ rating in Auto Bild’s winter 2021 evaluation, but a successor tyre is already available – in Korea, at least. Hankook Tire & Technology is launching the Winter i*cept RS³ in its domestic market today.
Hankook Tire is expanding its Dynapro line-up in North America with the introduction of the new ‘Rugged Terrain’ Hankook Dynapro XT and next-generation Dynapro AT2 Xtreme. It will offer the Dynapro XT is 30 sizes in this market. At launch the Dynapro AT2 Xtreme will cover 32 sizes, however Hankook says it will continue adding new sizes through a phased launch, eventually reaching 98 total sizes by 2022. The tyre maker states that the introduction of the two products will accelerate its penetration into the US market.
Business sustainability ratings provider EcoVadis has awarded Hankook Tire & Technology a platinum medal in its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) 2021 assessment. Platinum is, the tyre maker notes, a status bestowed upon companies whose performance is within the top one per cent of their industry sector. The current platinum medal is Hankook’s third back-to-back top-tier EcoVadis award; it earned the then highest gold award in 2019, followed by a platinum award upon the introduction of this recognition last year.
Hankook Tire and Apollo Tyres are the latest tyre manufacturers to align their natural rubber procurement policies with the framework adopted by the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR) in September 2020. Indian firm Apollo has released its first natural rubber policy document, while South Korea’s Hankook has updated the policy it introduced in 2018. Earlier this week, Yokohama Rubber announced it had altered its natural rubber procurement policy to accommodate the GPSNR policy framework.
Hankook Tire has introduced a new generation of regional to long-distance truck tyres into its SmartFlex Series. It premiered the SmartFlex AH51 steer axle and SmartFlex DH51 drive axle tyres at the CV Show in Birmingham today, and reports that the first six dimensions will be available in selected European markets from November.
Hankook Tire has extended its commitment to the UEFA Europa League for a further three years. This third renewal of the tyre maker’s sponsorship covers the period until the end of the 2023/24 season and additionally includes the new for 2021 UEFA Europa Conference League. It will sponsor this competition via its Laufenn tyre brand. Hankook and UEFA jointly announced the partnership’s extension and Laufenn’s Europa Conference engagement following the 2021/22 UEFA Europa League group stage draw.
Next week the Commercial Vehicle Show returns to the NEC in Birmingham after a year’s absence, and Hankook Tire will be present as an exhibitor. The tyre maker will debut two new products for European markets during the show, the Hankook SmartFlex AH51 and DH51 steer and drive tyres.
Hankook Tire is adding new 18- and 19-inch sizes to its Kinergy AS ev range. The new dimensions in this expanded line-up, which now covers 16- to 19-inch fitments, will initially be available only in South Korea but will launch in other markets at a later date.
Hankook Tire is introducing an ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) committee to strengthen its Board of Directors’ responsibility and activities in the area of sustainable management. The ESG committee will be responsible for consulting, deliberating, and recommending directions regarding environmental, social and governance businesses.
Within the next few hours, production will recommence at Hankook Tire & Technology’s Geumsan plant in South Korea following a 48-hour pause that began on 24 July after a number of workers tested positive for Covid-19. Health authorities have set up a test centre at the plant and intend to test around 3,000 employees early this week.
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