Tyre giant Hankook has this week unveiled plans to compete at the very highest levels – starting with Wales Rally GB.
The company has joined forces with Warwick-based Silverline Motorsport to offer a dedicated motorsport service for rallying and racing in the UK.
And to launch the new venture in style, Hankook Motorsports has entered three drivers into three different classes in the British round of the World Rally Championship.
South Korea’s leading tyremaker Hankook Tire Co. said that first-half earnings rose more than 13 per cent from a year ago on increased exports and sales of high-end products. Net profit came to 114.4 billion won ($112.5 million) in the January-June period, up 13.1 per cent from a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Hankook Tire Co, Korea’s largest tyre manufacturer said it is still considering Slovakia as the site for a 500 million euro ($603 million) plant, contradicting a Korean newspaper report that the plan had been scrapped. Now the Slovak government is saying that it has up until 31 August to come with a new offer for Hankook, local media sources have reported.
The cabinet rejected the original investment proposal due to investment incentives of 21 per cent of the total investment. Now the government insists that six per cent will remain the maximum level of the investment stimuli for the company.
(Akron/Tire Review) Reports out of Slovakia say that Hankook Tire Co will restart negotiations with other eastern European nations regarding its plans for a 500 million euro tyre plant. Slovakia lost its exclusive bargaining rights after cabinet ministers rejected a government aid package worth some 110 million euros.
It is expected that Hankook officials will renew talks with Poland and Hungary, the two the countries the South Korean tyremaker held negotiations with before it selected Slovakia in May.
(Akron/Tire Review) All is not yet lost for Slovakia in its bid to land a new tyre plant from Hankook Tire Co. The South Korean tyre manufacturer has made a counterproposal for government aid to support its planned 500 million euro tyre plant.
Slovakia Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda reportedly met with Hankook representatives late last week at Hankook’s request. Hankook is reported to have lowered its request for state assistance by 9.79 million euros. The meeting came just two days after Slovakia’s cabinet ministers rejected an investment package that included infrastructure improvements in the area surrounding the proposed plant.
(Akron/Tire Review) Reports say that Slovakian government officials are trying to meet with Hankook Tire Co to see if a deal to bring a 500 million euro tyre plant to that country can be salvaged. Earlier this week, government ministers rejected an incentive plan previously offered to lure the South Korean tyre maker to that country.
According to the Slovak Spectator, Economy Minister Pavol Rusko was expected to meet with Hankook officials yesterday to discuss “an acceptable amount of investment incentives.” The rejected incentive plan would have provided nearly 300 million euros in infrastructure improvements and tax breaks, said the newspaper.
An internal meeting of ministers in Economic ministers from Slovakia has recommended that the investment between Hankook and Slovakia should not be approved by the government. Jan Slota, chairman of the nationalist non-parliamentary SNS party, considers Monday’s decision by the economic group to be harmful to Slovakia’s business interests. According to Mr Slota, the decision means that Slovakia will fall further and further behind the other countries in the area. Mr Slota also suggested that other lobbying interests are causing finance minister Ivan Miklos’ negative attitude towards the Korean investment.
(Akron/Tire Review) Confusion over the state’s incentives is emerging just days after Hankook Tire announced its decision to build a new tyre plant in Slovakia. In return for its investment, Hankook made several requests, one of which was the construction of a speedway between Nitra and Hronský Benadik by 2009 and a four-lane road between Levice and Hronský Benadik by 2010.
Hankook Tire has released its first-quarter figures showing a 3.5 per cent increase in net profit. Its profits now stand at 56.6 billion won (£30.5 million).
Operating profit, however, edged down 2.4 per cent to 68.3 billion won, (£36.8 million). Sales rose 6.3 per cent to 475.6 billion won (£256 million).
(Akron/Tire Review) Various companies are lining up, according to reports in the Slovak Spectator, to protest the special incentive package the Slovakian government has extended to Hankook Tire as an inducement to get the South Korean tyre maker to build a new plant there.
Slovakian tyre company Matador Púchov and members of Klub 500, an association of companies, say the investment incentives offered by the government are unfair and may exceed established limits. Matador, in particular, said the incentives place it at an unfair advantage.
Hankook Tire Co has chosen Slovakia as the location of its new Eastern European factory, Slovakia’s economy minister, Pavol Rusko, is quoted as saying. The company, now plans to make an investment worth around 500 million euros in the country.
(Akron/Tire Review) The Slovak Spectator reported today that negotiations are underway between the Slovakian government and Hankook Tire Co regarding a new $650 million tyre plant for that country.
(Akron/Tire Review) Hankook has received final confirmation of an offer from the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency for the tiremaker to build a $500 million tire plant in Poland. Hankook could receive approximately $60 million in government aid and incentives, according to media reports.
(Akron/Tire Review) Hankook Tire Co.’s Optimo passenger tyre line made the list of South Korea’s “most powerful brands,” as determined by the Korea Management Association. According to a report by Chosun.com, the KMA surveyed the brand power of 2,576 brands in 164 industries to develop its list.
Media reports are continuing to circulate about exactly where in Eastern Europe Hankook will make its proposed $500 million investment. Numerous previous reports have stated that the company is interested in manufacturing in this region, and that the shortlist has narrowed to two countries (Poland and Slovakia). Now a Polish newspaper has added further information. A Rzeczpospolita report suggests that the Korean company is leaning towards Slovakia because of a governmental policy offering “flat tax” incentives to foreign investors.
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