NEX, the newly formed Spanish tyre wholesaler, has reported details of its exclusive brand portfolio. The company, which appointed Luis Miguel Muñoz as managing director in October 2014, was formed when Euromaster and Rodi Motor Services merged their distribution operations. According, to the company NEX started its independent distribution and delivery operations in Spain last December.
On 23 December, Kumho Tire emerged from the debt workout programme it was placed under at the start of 2010. More than 75 per cent of the company’s creditors, in terms of debt held, decided that Kumho Tire had reached the threshold for ‘graduating’ from the programme. The tyre maker’s debt ratio, which hit a high of 858 per cent in 2010, declined to 290 per cent during the first half of 2014. Its credit rating also improved from BBB- to BBB.
Seven all-new tyre lines are set to enter the Kumho Tire USA portfolio in 2015, and the company says from now on it will refresh its North American range every year.
The Marshal tyre brand’s digital presence in the Middle East region has been expanded through the launch of a new website. The multilingual English-Arabic-Persian site aims to inform consumers prior to making a purchase decision, and in addition to covering the entire Marshal product range it provides a dealer locator to help potential buyers find the nearest centre. The site is optimised for desktop, tablet and mobile viewing.
Kumho Tire reports it is supplying its Ecsta HM in size 225/55R16 to BMW for fitment on certain 3 Series models produced in the company’s Munich and Regensburg factories in Germany.
Kumho recently became the first Korean tyre manufacturer to receive Renault’s Quality award. Sechang Park, chief operating officer and senior vice-president, accepted the award on the tyre maker’s behalf at an event held at Renault Group’s world headquarters in Boulogne-Billancourt, France, during October.
Kumho staged a UK launch for its updated product range at Rockingham Motor Speedway. Dubbed the ‘Kumho Experience’, the manufacturer’s UK marketing director John Thrupp introduced the day long event, which allowed Kumho’s national network of dealers and media guests to sample the performance characteristics of such tyres as the Solus HS51 premium tyre, which became available in the last quarter of 2013.
Driver training school R3 (Road Risk Reduction) has selected Kumho Tyre UK as a new commercial partner. The arrangement will see Kumho Tyre UK and the Rockingham Motor Speedway-based outfit work together towards giving British drivers a solid foundation in both attitude and skill. Kumho will equip all R3 cars with its Ecowing ES01 KH27, and on top of this will send all Kumho Tyre UK staff on a bespoke training course with R3 to ensure safe and economical driving.
French manufacturer Michelin has won our global online tyre brand value rankings for the seventh consecutive year. However, while Michelin deserves credit for the unparalleled achievement. This year’s research also shows significant growth from Korean manufacturers/mid-range brands. Tyres & Accessories once again partnered with NetNames, a partnership that this year celebrates its 10th set of annual results and 10 years of assessing tyre brands’ online prominence and sentiment.
The Kumho tyre brand will be visible at La Liga BBVA football matches throughout the 2014/2015 season following the signing of an agreement between the Korean tyre manufacturer and the Spanish football league. The exposure will consist of a mix of free-standing logos positioned behind the goals and digital billboards around the periphery of the pitch. The initiative will support the work of both Kumho Tyre’s Spanish dealer network and those throughout Europe, by exposing the brand to the attendant crowds and an enormous television audience.
Kumho Tyre’s new customer-facing corporate website has been launched. The new site focuses on providing a better browsing experience for those visiting on mobile devices, an approach the tyre manufacturer calls a “mobile first, fully responsive perspective”. As a result of this responsive design, the site adapts automatically to suit the size of the user’s screen. Kumho claims this resulted in a 50 per cent increase in the amount of mobile traffic to the website in its first week, with early feedback saying 96 per cent of visitors “would recommend” the site, from 1,000 unique surveys. The site’s usability and design attractiveness have also been rated at least “good” by more than 98 per cent of respondents.
Attempts by Kumho Tire parent company Kumho Asiana to reacquire Kumho Buslines from private equity consortium KoFC IBKS KStone PEF have run into difficulties, with consortium backers KStone Partners and IBK Investment & Securities claiming Kumho Asiana has tried to force down the Kumho Buslines purchase price by pressuring other potential bidders to step away.
The time since Reifen 2014 can still be measured in weeks, but even now, Messe Essen reports that it has already firmly rented out around 60 per cent of the area in 2014 for Reifen 2016 on 24–27 May, 2016. The more than 150 exhibitors which have already registered include the following manufacturers (amongst others): Alligator, Giti Tire, Kraiburg, Kumho Tyre, Infinity Tyres, Marangoni, VMI and Yokohama. Moreover, the trading companies Bohnenkamp and Reiff have confirmed their participation in the world’s leading trade fair for the tyre sector.
A new tyre testing facility has been added to Kumho’s European Technical Centre (KETC) in Papenburg, Germany. The 1,000 square metre premises will facilitate the upwards of 3,000 tyres that the KETC tests a year and it houses a nine-strong test team along with all the required tyres and wheel rims. Kumho says the adjacent proving ground has been particularly designed to encompass subjective handling, wet handling characteristics, aquaplaning, driving comfort, interior/exterior noise and braking on all surfaces. These activities are supported by GPS-based measurement systems and digital evaluation of the tyre footprints.
Kumho believes that UK drivers are now far better educated in the values of winter and all-weather tyres than before the big freeze of 2011, and demand for its seasonal products has continued to rise.
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