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Kumho On Top at Jim Clark Rally

Kumho notched up another rally success at the Jim Clark event held on the weekend of May 23-25. The rally, which Kumho describes as effectively being five events in one, ended with the first four places in the National event held by Kumho shod vehicles. Finishing in the top four spots were:

David Kynaston/Andy Russell (Audi A3 Quattro)
Andy Fenwick/Lee Tindall (Skoda Octavia WRC)
David Mann/Alun Cook (Subaru Impreza WRC)
Alistair Thorburn/Paul McGuire (Subaru Impreza)

Andy Fenwick and Lee Tindall, who returned to the Kumho fold this year after a season on rival rubber, were also the outright victors of the Reivers event.

2nd June 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Kumho Tires Starts Work on Central R&D Centre

Kumho Tires makes no secret of its ambition to stand amongst the world’s top five tyre companies by 2015, and one channel the company says it will use to achieve this is to strengthen the Kumho R&D network. One key part of the South Korean manufacturer’s strengthening programme is the planned Kumho central R&D centre in Yong-in, Gyeonggi Province, and on May 15 an official ceremony was held to mark the start of construction work at the site. Numerous company executives and employees, including CEO Sae-Chul Oh, attended the ceremony.

The anticipated completion date for the central R&D centre is the latter half of next year. A sum of 70 billion KRW will be invested into the project, which will cover a floor space of 24,092 square metres and a land area of 34,842 square metres. The facility is planned to be, says Kumho, one of the world’s top three central R&D centres.

2nd June 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Flexsys Files Patent Infringement Complaint

Flexsys America L.P., a subsidiary of Solutia Inc., has announced it has filed a new complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) against Sinorgchem Co., Shandong; Korea Kumho Petrochemical Co., Ltd. (KKPC); Kumho Tire Co., Inc.; and Kumho Tire USA, Inc. This complaint asserts that the importation of Sinorgchem’s 4-ADPA or any antidegradants made from its 4-ADPA into the United States violates section 337 of the U.S. Tariff Act, due to Sinorgchem’s infringement upon Flexsys’ patents for the production of 4-ADPA and its intermediates.

In this new case, Flexsys seeks an exclusion order barring the importation of Sinorgchem’s 4-ADPA as well as 6PPD made from Sinorgchem’s 4-ADPA into the United States, including that manufactured by KKPC.

16th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Top Kumho Officials Attend US Groundbreaking Ceremony

Last Monday saw Kumho Tire begin construction work on its facility in the US state of Georgia, the fifth outside of Korea to be built by the company. Completion of work is anticipated for the second half of 2009, and initial capacity will be 2.1 million tyres.

“With the Georgia plant, Kumho Tire will be a further step ahead as a world-class tyre maker,” said Kumho Tire CEO Oh Se-chul in a statement.

14th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Kumho Plant Groundbreaking Set for Monday

Kumho Tire USA will break ground this Monday for its planned $225 million passenger and light truck/SUV plant in Macon, Georgia. Top executives from parent company Kumho Tire Co. and state and local officials are expected to be on hand for the event. (Tire Review/Akron)

9th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Double Event for Kumho MSA British Rallycross at Pembrey

The Kumho Tyres MSA British Rallycross Championship moves to Pembrey in South Wales on May 3 and 4 for a crucial double-header that forms the second and third rounds of the championship. Title holder Ollie O’Donovan won the first round of the championship and holds a three-point lead at the head of the championship tables entering rounds two and three. Last year proved to be a bogey track for O’Donovan, technical problems costing him places in both of the championship’s visits to the fast Welsh track.

“I think I had quite an easy run in the first round but I’m not expecting it to be like that at Pembrey as there’s a long run from the start to the first corner and that doesn’t really suit my car as much as some others,” said O’Donovan, who added that his plan is to race hard right from the start. “I think everyone will be conscious that there’s a need to get the cars through two full days, but I’d rather go for it right from the start and take my win on Saturday than hang back and take a place and then perhaps miss out on Sunday too. The two drivers I’d be most concerned about are Steve Hill and Liam Doran, but I’ll take each day as it comes.”

25th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

1Q Los for Kumho to be Bigger than Planned

Kumho Tire Co. told analysts earlier this week that its anticipated first quarter loss will be larger than expected. For the first quarter of 2008, Kumho lost 36 billion won (US$36.2 million), compared with a loss of 14.3 billion won for the same quarter last year. The tyremaker’s year-over-year operating profit, though, was up 30 per cent and sales rose 15.6 per cent. (Tire Review/Akron)

25th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Micheldever Appoints New Kumho Brand Manager

Micheldever Tyre Services has announced the appointment of Jason Burgess as its new Kumho Brand Manager. Micheldever holds the distinction of being the largest Kumho distributor in Europe, and UK sales of the brand are rapidly growing – indeed, Micheldever reports that Kumho has become an important component of the company’s continued growth, growth that saw 2007 tyre sales reach six million units.

“We are delighted to have recruited someone of Jason’s quality and experience”, said Alan Baldwin, Micheldever wholesale director. “We have enjoyed massive success with the Kumho brand, and to find such an outstanding brand manager as Jason will be a significant benefit to MTS and the Ecsta Performance Centres network.”

24th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

New Products Ready to Join Growing Kumho UHP Range

Europe is currently a market of much activity for Kumho, and the manufacturer reports that its OE business here is growing, the latest addition to the company’s original equipment portfolio being the high performance Ecsta KU19 in size 245/45R18 for the new Mercedes-Benz Viano X-Clusive. Supply of this particular KU19 size has been added to the company’s global OE business, which includes as customers Chevrolet, Chrysler, Hyundai, Kia, Mitsubishi, Smart, SsangYong, VW and Daimler AG, to whom Kumho has supplied tyres for the A-Class model since last year. In the replacement market Kumho’s profile has also grown rapidly, thanks to the support of national distribution partner Micheldever Tyre Services, Northern Ireland distributor Modern Tyres and the ECSTA Performance Centre network, arguably one of the most successful retailing programmes of its kind.

23rd April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Kumho 18-inch Nemesis Tyres Complete Maiden Rally Raid

Kumho’s new 18-inch rally raid tyre has completed its maiden event, with all four of the Bowler Nemesis 4x4s the company supplied completing the Baja Italia event. The Nemesis, a specialist V8-powered rally raid 4×4, had been due to make its debut on the Lisbon-Dakar Rally earlier this year, but the event was cancelled at the last minute, due to terrorist threats.

Four such Bowlers were entered for the Baja Italia (14-16 March), a rally centered around the dried river beds above Venice. These included the Kumho-liveried vehicle of Richard Hayward and Alex Cole; the second British entry of Greg Macleod and Oliver Ford; the French entry of Thierry Charbonnier and Quin Evans and the Belgian one of Joost Van Cauwenberge and Marc Devos.

9th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Milhaupt to Head Kumho Sales

Jim Milhaupt has been named national vice president of sales for Kumho Tire USA, succeeding Dave Hudrlik, who left the company. An eight-year veteran with Kumho, Milhaupt will oversee Kumho’s US sales efforts. He will be based at Kumho’s headquarters in Rancho Cucamonga, California. (Tire Review/Akron)

2nd April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Kumho to Receive $250,000 Incentive for US Plant Establishment

The city in the US state of Georgia where Kumho is to set up a new factory has approved a US$250,000 incentive package. A Macon City Council committee agreed to the request in response to the incentive deal previously promised by local officials, in which permits and fees related to the plant’s construction would be waived.

The council says that its policy is not to exempt companies from the payment of permits and fees, so officially the quarter million dollars will be cash contributed to the $12.5 million Kumho has set aside to pay for acquisition of the Macon site plus various infrastructure and preparation expenses.

25th March 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Kumho Vietnam Factory Brings Global Tyre Output to 65 Million Units

The recent completion of Kumho’s 315,000 square metre Vietnamese factory, brings the Korean tyre manufacturer’s global output to circa 65 million units. The plant built at a cost of some $200 million will initially manufacture around 3.15 million tyres per annum, but there is provision to expand production to 13 million units.

With the new plant on stream, Kumho expects its 2008 international tyre production levels to total 34 million units, thereby exceeding its domestic output (around 31 million units) for the first time and hitting the 65 million unit mark. According to the company, this will be a significant step towards the company’s ambition of achieving 5th place in the league of global tyre manufacturers by 2015.

19th March 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Kumho Continues as Zandvoort Masters of Formula 3 Sponsor

During the weekend of 8 -10 August, top Formula 3 drivers will once again race on Kumho tyres at Zolder, following tyre supplier Kumho’s decision to commit to the event as title sponsor. The “Zandvoort Masters of Formula 3” is Europe’s only race featuring the best Formula 3 drivers from the various championships.

“Of course, this is still a temporary solution, because Zandvoort is the natural homebase for the Masters, like the name already indicates”, says Erik Weijers, C.O.O. of Circuit Park Zandvoort. “The idea of the Masters was born at Zandvoort and the event has built up its strong history here from the very first edition in 1991 onwards. Because of the limited number of so-called ‘noise days’ that we have at Zandvoort, we have to escape to Zolder. Of course, the facilities and the support we are getting there is excellent. Zolder surely is the best possible alternative in that respect.”

18th March 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

XSensor Releases New Tyre Tread Analysis Tools

XSensor Technology has released a new tyre tread analysis range as part of its 2008 product line extension. According to the company, the new tread analysis range has been produced based on input from companies including: Nokian, Bridgestone, Kumho, and Goodyear.

“We’re concentrating our efforts in the automotive test market in early 2008. There is a lot of potential in our current framework to support the work of test engineers and the products they hope to build. We are confident XSensor can meet their needs with this next generation of tools”, says Karl Schilling, XSensor’s Director of International Sales.

13th March 2008/by Tyrepress Editors