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.
Hankook has confirmed that it will continue as the exclusive supplier to the FIA Formula 3 European Championship in 2014. The manufacturer will provide its Ventus brand tyres to competitors in 33 races over 11 weekends, supporting such series as the Hankook-supplied DTM. The season began at Silverstone with 30 drivers competing for 12 teams.
2014 marks touring car series DTM’s 30th anniversary, and exclusive tyre supplier Hankook will again equip teams with two models of Ventus racing tyre. The Korean manufacturer says that enhanced vehicles and new regulations promise great excitement, while new races in Hungary and China add new challenges for participants. Each car will use both tyres, with a single pit stop, meaning the softer Ventus Race Plus can only be used for a maximum of half the racing distance. Hankook has completed its winter testing programme for the series and is satisfied by the results.
Sailun Tyres has expanded its European team with the appointment of Michael Eckert as senior product marketing manager (Europe). Eckert has more than 18 years’ tyre industry experience that covers various roles at Michelin and, most recently, Hankook. These positions include a number of senior roles related to truck tyres, racing and motorsport teams and responsibility for original equipment.
Endurance racing event series the 24H Series has a new title sponsor. Hankook Tire replaces Dunlop in this role and serves as exclusive partner for what is now called the 24H Series powered by Hankook. The tyre maker will also lend its name to various events held during the season, such as ‘Hankook 12H Zandvoort’, ‘Hankook 12H Hungary’, ‘Hankook 24H Dubai’ and ‘Hankook 12H Italy-Mugello’. The 24H Series includes endurance race events for GTs, touring cars and 24H Specials, and depending on weather and track conditions, Hankook will supply endurance tyres from the Ventus Race slick or rain range.
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.