Kumho Tire its participating in this year’s The Tire Cologne exhibition with a revamped stand spanning 408 square metres. Positioned at Hall 6, Stand A030/B039, the company is set to showcase its comprehensive portfolio featuring the Kumho and Marshal brands, providing visitors with an immersive experience to explore the latest advancements across the car, SUV/4×4, van, and truck segments.
Following the news that it will take control of Kumho as the largest shareholder, Qingdao Doublestar has released details of how it is working to indirectly hold 45 per cent of Kumho’s shares by issuing shares and paying cash in order to obtain strategic assets. After the complex transaction is completed, Qingdao Doublestar will control Kumho. Prior to this transaction, 45 per cent of Kumho was controlled by the wider Doublestar group rather than the tyre manufacturer Qingdao Doublestar itself.
Kumho Tire USA reports that Kumho has become the official tyre of Formula Drift as a major sponsor of the Formula Drift Pro Championship. “As an ‘Official Tire of Formula Drift,’ this will provide a national footprint to elevate the brand in the United States, reaching millions of motorsport enthusiasts,” said Shawn Denlein, president of sales and marketing, Kumho Tire USA.
At the end of March, tyre manufacturer Qingdao Doublestar suspended trading on the stock exchange and announced that it was preparing to officially take control of Kumho and resolve competition in the industry. Doublestar said it will disclose further information before April 11.
In response to an article that The Korea Economic Daily published this morning, Kumho Tire has confirmed that it is considering establishing a new factory in Europe. The company indicates this interest in a disclosure to the Korea Stock Exchange but adds that it has not yet decided precisely how much it will invest in the project, nor its exact timing. Kumho Tire intends to supply further information within the next month.
Kumho Tire has entered into a technology licensing agreement with Blatco (Black Arrow Tire Co.), a Saudi company established in 2019 to kick-start tyre manufacturing within the country with joint venture partners. Under the terms of the agreement, Kumho Tire will provide Blatco its passenger vehicle tyre production technology for the next 20 years.
Kumho entered the replacement electric vehicle tyre market in 2016 with its Wattrun VS31, a tyre that was an early forerunner of the current wave of products designed to meet the particular needs of battery-powered cars. The tyre garnered both the prestigious German Red Dot Design Award and American Green Good Design accolades, demonstrating the Korean manufacturer’s innovation in that field. The Wattrun VS31 has now been superseded by the Ecsta PS71 EV, the company’s next generation electric vehicle tyre.
Kumho Tyre UK promoted Dean Dyoss to the role of sales director effective 1 January 2024. Dyoss has more than 30 years of experience in the tyre industry in various sales positions with the likes of Bridgestone and Nankang as well as with Point S and Kwik Fit on the retail side. However, he has spent the last eight years with Kumho where he has been key account manager. As a result of his promotion, Dyoss will take responsibility for the Kumho consumer products sales team including business development and key accounts.
Gordon Bruce, the well-known motoring writer and communications consultant, died a few days before Christmas. Bruce, who was 76, suffered a heart attack during a gym session, according to a Guild of Motoring Writers obituary. He was 76. He is survived by his wife Marilyn, children Alastair and Becky and his grandchildren.
Following a one-year hiatus, in 2024 world-level touring car racing returns to the FIA motorsport portfolio. The 2023-launched TCR World Tour gains FIA competition status in its second season and the championship, which exclusively runs on Kumho tyres, will be known as the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour for the next three years.
Bridgestone has invested 54.73 million yuan upgrading equipment at its Tianjin factory. According to Bridgestone, this transformation will not increase the product categories and production capacity of its Tianjin factory. After the equipment is upgraded, it can support Bridgestone’s Tianjin factory in ensuring stable tyre performance and reducing corporate energy consumption. The renovation project is planned to start construction in December 2023 and be completed and put into production in August 2025.
When Kumho Tire recently shared news about its tyre made from 80 per cent sustainable materials, we couldn’t help but notice that the accompanying artwork featured a different company logo than the one in use since Doublestar acquired the company. The tyre maker says this new logo is “designed to represent modernity, strength and commitment to the future,” but it also places further distance between the brand and former parent company the Kumho Asiana Group.
Kumho Tire has developed a tyre made from 80 per cent sustainable materials. The manufacturer said the tyre, which replaces petrochemicals with sustainably sourced and recycled materials, represents a step towards its goal to develop products made entirely of sustainable materials by 2045.
Kumho Tire and synthetic rubber manufacturer Synthos have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the joint development of sustainable tyre raw materials. Under the MOU, the two companies will conduct a joint research and development project for Neodymium-Butadiene rubber using Bio-Butadiene and expand the use of environmentally friendly synthetic rubber in tyre manufacturing.
At the end of September, the list of Asia’s most influential brands of 2023 was published at the “Asia Brand Summit” in Hong Kong. A total of 500 brands from 20 countries and regions, were honoured at the 18th World Brand Lab summit themed “The Impact of New Technologies on Brand Transformation and Consumer Behavior.” Seven of them were tyre brands and all seven were ranked amongst the top 350 of the 500 honoured brands.
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