Yesterday the Federation of Chemical Workers of Hungary (VDSZ) held a demonstration against Hankook Tire Hungary Ltd. and what it views as the tyre maker’s harassment of union officials at its plant in Rácalmás. The VDSZ called upon other unions and workers to display solidarity by attending the protest.
Sales at Hankook Tire declined 11.2 per cent year-on-year to KRW 1,661.5 billion (£954.4 million) in the second quarter of 2014. The UHP tyre segment accounted for 30 per cent of the company’s consolidated sales in the quarter, noted the South Korean tyre maker. Operating profit decreased 7.4 per cent to KRW 251.2 billion (£144.3 million).
An all-new Mini entered the market this year, and it’s longer and wider than the previous model – 107 mm longer and 44 mm wider in hatchback form, to be precise. But not everything has changed; Hankook remains original equipment supplier for the Mini, and is providing four tyre lines for the new-generation car. All original equipment tyres for the Mini are produced at Hankook’s factory in Hungary.
Its tyres are already fitted on Mercedes-Benz S- and E-Class cars, and now Hankook Tire reports it has begun supplying Daimler AG original equipment tyres for the C-Class, including run-flat tyres. The midsize Mercedes receives both standard and HRS (Hankook Runflat System) versions of the Ventus S1 evo² in size 225/50 R17 W. This is the first time that Hankook has supplied run-flat tyres as original equipment.
The Stafford branch of Mr. Tyre has become the tenth Hankook Masters site in the UK and the third Mr. Tyre depot, after Leicester and Lincoln, to join the Hankook Masters Program. Mr. Tyre and its 28 UK depots has been a Hankook customer for almost 16 years.
As of 1 July, former Bridgestone UK consumer sales director Brett Emerson will join Hankook Tyre UK as sales director. In his new role, Emerson will oversee all business development for Hankook’s commercial and car tyre businesses within the UK.
Hankook has slowed its production in response to amassing a record inventory glut. Seoul’s Yonhap News Agency reports that the manufacturer has 660,000 unsold tyres, or 8.5 per cent of its monthly 7.75 million production capacity. The agency quotes an unnamed Hankook source as saying that the growth in demand expected after March had failed to materialise, leading to the surplus.
Nexen Tire has appointed Seung-Do Jin, a former Hankook Europe head, as president Nexen Tire Europe. Jin has years of professional experience and, according to the company, his team will be able to align the company in order to “meet all future challenges successfully”.
Consumer reviews magazine Which? has awarded Hankook’s Kinergy Eco tyre ‘Best Buy’ status. The tyre, designed with improved rolling resistance a key consideration, was acclaimed in both the 14” and 15” size categories tested, heading a list of 15 other products.
Groundbreaking took place yesterday on Hankook Tire’s new KRW 266 billion (£155.7 million) R&D centre in South Korea. When complete in 2016, the Daejeon-based Hankook Technodome will be the first of two new research and testing facilities the tyre maker plans to establish as the core instruments of its overall research and development infrastructure. The Hankook Technodome will serve as an incubator for innovative new technologies and eventually operate in tandem with a further facility that is scheduled to open in 2018, the Hankook Test Engineering Center in Sangju, South Korea. The Sangju site’s planned function is to act as a hub for tyre evaluation technologies, and it will be equipped with state-of-the-art tyre testing facilities.
This year’s annual tyre manufacturer rankings have brought with them a number of key changes at the top of the table. The growth of Far Eastern manufacturers and Chinese companies in particular has long been observed, but 2014 sees Singapore-based Giti Tire break into the top 10 and Taiwan-based Maxxis/Cheng Shin Rubber retains its ninth position. Hot on Giti’s heels, 11th place ZC Rubber (producer of the Westlake brand) gained one place from its position in last year’s table. Indeed this part of the table is extremely close and, such is the competition at this level, if ZC Rubber had achieved the same figures as last year (assuming no-one else had done any better and excluding currency effects) it could have been in 10th position.
Although it is the smallest of the three Korean tyre makers, Nexen has surprised some observers by being the only company in the country to increase both sales and operating profits in the first quarter of 2014. Of course the figures also show that both Kumho and especially Hankook remain significantly bigger than Nexen in terms of both measures, but the news caps a strong quarter for Nexen, which also announced the opening of a European factory and a number of awards and OE deals in the period.
At this month’s Reifen 2014 show in Essen, Germany, Hankook Tire will occupy more than 300 square metres of exhibition space at in Hall 3.0 (stand 3A32). At this, the 11th occasion the tyre maker has exhibited at the trade fair, Hankook will display an extended UHP line-up and will highlight its recent original equipment segment activities.
Revenue and operating profit at Hankook Tire was marginally lower year-on-year in the first quarter of 2014, the company reported on 30 April. Global sales revenue amounted to KRW 1.675 trillion (£958.9 million) between 1 January and 31 March, 0.3 per cent lower than the revenue achieved in the first quarter of 2013. Operating profit in Q1 2014 was KRW 260.1 billion (£148.9 million), 0.7 per cent less than a year earlier. Operating profit to sales ratio was 15.5 per cent.
The number of motoring publications available in Germany means we are never short of tyre test results. On 17 April, sport auto (issue 5/2014) published the results of its summer tyre comparative test; ten tyres in the popular dimension 225/40 R18 were tested, with sport auto selecting a mixture of UHP and comfort-oriented tyres for evaluation in 14 criteria, including six dry condition criteria (worth 50 per cent of the final result), six wet condition criteria (40 per cent of final result) and two environmental criteria (ten per cent of final result). The tyres were tested fitted to a VW Golf GTI.
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