The new Hankook SmartFlex AH35 all-season tyre was introduced at the Commercial Vehicle show in Birmingham earlier this year, and Hankook Tire reports that this European market steer axle fitment was recently the recipient of a Red Dot Design Award. An award was also picked up by its drive axle counterpart, the SmartFlex DH35. This tyre will be available on the market soon, notes Hankook Tire.
Cross-channel and European fleet operators running trucks fitted with 60 to 80 series tyres can find it a challenge to utilise the maximum three metre trailer inner load without exceeding the legally permissible total height of four metres. A reduced inner load means a loss in capacity and lower journey revenues. Fitting 50 series tyres can help operators achieve optimal internal dimensions while staying below the four metre limit, and Hankook Tire is catering to demand for such products with its latest release, the size 355/50 R22.5 Hankook AL10+ e-cube MAX.
Hankook has signed a global partnership contract with Real Madrid CF. The contract starts from July 2016 and is set to last three seasons. By virtue of the deal, Hankook aims to add some 450 million Real Madrid fans from different global markets such as the Asian Pacific region including China, Latin America, and of course Europe. As well as perimeter advertising during all home games at the football club’s Santiago Bernabéu stadium, Hankook will have access to a range of further global marketing rights.
Hankook Tire will continue to deliver its Ventus Race F200 racing tyres for the 225 hp cars fielded by Formula 3 racing teams after its cooperation with the FIA Formula 3 European Championship was extended for a further three years last month.
From the 24th to the 27th of May 2016 Hankook will be exhibiting at the Reifen show in Essen the 12th time. The company’s stand in Hall 3, Booth 3A34, will feature the firm’s new “comfort flagship Ventus Prime3”, which recently took top spot in the AutoBild summer tyre test 2016. At the neighbouring Booth 3A32, the company is also presenting the summer line-up of its second tyre brand launched at the IAA – Laufenn.
Korean portal BusinessKorea claims Hankook Tire has signed a sponsorship agreement with Real Madrid, with the deal personally led by company Cho Hyun-bum. The tyre maker has yet to confirm entering into a contract with the Spanish football club, and details of the alleged agreement are not yet known.
Models of the Nissan Frontier – the Navara to you and I – sold in North America and Mexico will be exclusively equipped across the main sizes with Hankook tyres as original equipment. Hankook Tire reports it will ship its highway all-season Dynapro HT in sizes P265/70R16T and P265/60R18T and the all-terrain Dynapro AT-M in size P265/75R16T for fitment on the 2016 Nissan Frontier.
The existing partnership between Hankook Tire and German touring car championship DTM has been extended for a further three years. The tyre maker signed a new contract with DTM promoter ITR e.V. last Friday following the press conference held for the opening of the current season; under the terms of this contract, Hankook will continue to deliver its Ventus Race DTM tyres to Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz until the end of the 2019 season.
Hankook Tire has reported its first quarter 2016 financial results, and these show a 9.4 per cent year-on-year rise in consolidated sales; these amounted to KRW 1.6 trillion (£975.4 million) in the three months to 31 March 2016. Operating profit rose 23.6 per cent to KRW 251.1 billion (£150.3 million).
The choice of Hungary, home of its European manufacturing base, as the location for this month’s ‘Ventus Experience’ media event underlines Hankook Tire’s growing focus on original equipment supply within the region. In addition to introducing the Ventus Prime³ comfort tyre, during the event Hankook Tire showed the fruits of recent investment in its factory in Rácalmás, and shared how the facility is helping it meet the requirements of European vehicle manufacturers.
According to Hankook Tire, one aim of its second tyre brand, Laufenn, is to meet “various lifestyle needs for price conscious motorists across the European region.” The initial Laufenn range for Europe was presented at the IAA motor show in Frankfurt, Germany last September, and three of the five product lines displayed, the Laufenn S FIT EQ, G FIT EQ and X FIT VAN, are now being released in the European market.
Later this year, Hankook Tire’s North American headquarters will relocate from New Jersey to Nashville, Tennessee. Hankook Tire America Corp announced that an investment of approximately US$5 million will go into setting up its new headquarters there, adding that the project will create up to 200 jobs in the local area.
Millbrook Group, the owner of winter and tyre testing specialists, Test World, hosted a series of high-profile visits by key VIPs in the region, including the Finnish Prime Minister, Juha Sipilä, and the US Ambassador to Finland, Charles C. Adams. The news follows Test World’s relatively recent signing of a contract with Hankook to build a winter tyre testing centre in Ivalo for Hankook’s exclusive use.
The results of a number of comparative tyre tests have been published in various magazines during the last month or so, including in several Auto Bild titles. Hankook Tire has commented on the victory of its Ventus Prime³ in Auto Bild’s annual test of 50 size 205/55R16V summer tyres, and on the second place attained by the Hankook Ventus S1 evo² in the 20-inch (255/35R20 front and 295/30R20 rear) tyre test published in Auto Bild Sportscars.
This year the Birmingham-based Commercial Vehicle Show takes place from 26 to 28 April, and Hankook Tyre UK has provided details of the products it will present at its stand (5C60) at the NEC.
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