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Kumho Broadens its OE Horizons

Kumho has been a significant supplier to OEMs in its home market of Korea for many years. Recently, however, the company has taken a number of strides towards securing deals with major automotive manufacturers in Europe and the US. To that end, Kumho have set up offices in Birmingham, Hamburg and Detroit, as well as an office in Tianjin, China.

The tyremaker’s breakthrough in Europe came in 2001, when Kumho won the contract to supply 200,000 tyres a year to Volkswagen AG for the 2002 model year Polo. Though this was the company’s first ever European contract, it was not the first association with Volkswagen, to whom it already supplied tyres for the Mexican built Beetle. More recently, Kumho was selected by DaimlerChrysler AG to supply tyres for the second generation Mercedes Benz A-Class model. The development programme for this contract was led by Kumho’s Birmingham based European Technical Centre (KETC) and the main focus was ride refinement whilst maintaining suitable levels of wet and dry performance as well as a low rolling resistance. The result was a new tread compound and carcass material for the Kumho SOLUS KH15.

12th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Kumho Petrochemical Raises Stake in Kumho Tire to 39.86%

Kumho Tire Co Inc has announced its majority shareholder Kumho Petrochemical has bought 43,000 shares in the company, increasing its stake to 39.86 per cent from 39.80 per cent. As a result Kumho Petrochemical now holds 27.90 million shares in the Korean tyre manufacturer.

17th September 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Kumho’s Top Shareholder Takes Larger Stake

(Akron/Tire Review) Kumho Petrochemical bought an additional 45,000 shares in Kumho Tire, raising its stake to just over 38 per cent and firming its position as the tyremaker’s largest shareholder.

Kumho Petrochemical now holds 26.73 million shares in the tyre company.

13th August 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Kumho Consolidating in China

International News, Product News

(Rubber Asia/sg) The aggressive forays of Korean tyre major Kumho into China, carried out with a view to establishing the country as its major overseas production base, will go a long way towards realising the company’s vision to emerge as the world’s 5th largest tyre maker by 2015. The booming Chinese tyre market is to become the most important overseas production base for the Kumho Tire Company, if its ongoing activities, the latest being the recent launch of its US$220 million wholly-owned radial truck/bus project in the Nanjing Economic and Technical Development Zone, are any indication. This is the Korean’s fourth major Chinese project, and the company hopes to ultimately produce 1.4 million tyres there annually. The groundbreaking ceremony for the proposed plant was held in May, and the first phase of the project, with an installed capacity of 300,000 tyres per year, is expected to go on stream by June 2008.

10th August 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Kumho Plans Major Capacity Boost at New Plant

(Akron/Tire Review) South Korea’s Kumho Tire Co. already plans to expand annual capacity at its brand new Changchun plant, nearly doubling tyre build from 3.15 million to 6.3 million tyres. The expansion will take an investment of $108 million, Kumho officials said.

The plant began production on July 27, and will be the primary OE tyre supplier to Chinese carmaker First Automotive Works.

30th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Kumho Signs Manchester United Sponsorship Deal

Kumho Tire announced on July 12 that it has signed a sponsorship deal with Manchester United. The four-year deal, settled for an undisclosed sum, will see Kumho obtain the rights to include the football team’s logo and images of the players in its advertisements. Company CEO Oh Se-chul said the tyremaker expects the sponsorship agreement will help promote their international image.

The tyremaker is already involved with the well-known football club, and announced in April that Manchester United would participate in a Kumho sponsored friendly match at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on July 20. Kumho said it plans to hold a joint press conference with Manchester United in Seoul on July 19.

12th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Kumho Launches Aroma Tyre in Detroit

(Akron/Tire Review) On July 1, Kumho Tire USA will start a marketing campaign in Detroit to officially launch its Ecsta DX aroma tyre. The multimedia campaign, which will include a rebate promotion, Internet advertising, newspaper ads, billboards and radio spots, will cover the Detroit metro area and most of Michigan, including Ann Arbor, Flint, Port Huron and Toledo, Ohio.

Kumho will also run print ads in regional editions of several national magazines, including Business Week, Forbes, Fortune, Inc., Money, Parenting, Family Fun, U.S. News & World Report, Time, Newsweek and Sports Illustrated. Additionally, Kumho will have a presence at select Detroit-area events this summer, including the Woodward Dream Cruise and the Detroit Grand Prix American Le Mans Series race.

2nd July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Kumho’s Vietnam Latex Facility Ready for Production

Preparations to ready Kumho Tire’s US$4 million latex processing facility in Vietnam have reached their conclusion and on June 28 the new plant began operations. The facility, located towards the south of the country in Binh Dong province, has an annual capacity of processing 11,000 tons of natural rubber latex, which will be sourced from within the province. Plant output will supply the tyremaker’s $380 million tyre factory now under construction nearby.

When the new tyre factory enters production early in 2008 it will have a capacity of more than 3 million radials per annum, and these tyres will both be sold on the domestic market and exported to North American, European and ASEAN markets.

29th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Kumho Wins LMP2 Class At Le Mans

The LMP2 class-winning Lola Zytek of Binnie Motorsports was shod with Kumho tyres – an historic achievement for the Korean tyre manufacturer, who was competing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for only the third time. Kumho was supporting both the Binnie Motorsports entry, comprised of Bill Binnie (US), Allen Timpany (GB) and Chris Buncombe (GB), and the Kruse Motorsport Pescarolo Judd of Tony Burgess (Can), Jean de Pourtales (Fr) and Norbert Siedler (Aut). The Binnie Car won LMP2 outright and finished 18th overall. Sadly the Kruse car did not survive the full 24 hours.

Both teams used a new wider front tyre designed to help improve performance. Kumho developed new tyre constructions and compounds specifically for Le Mans and the teams were able to choose from two slick compounds, one intermediate and one wet. Said Bill Binnie: “We experienced just about every type of weather during the race from dry/warm conditions to torrential rain and used Kumho’s full arsenal of tyres as a result. They all performed admirably and were a key element of our victory.”

26th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Peter Gaster Takes on Key Role In TIF

Peter Gaster of Kings Road Tyres and the National Chairman of the NTDA has been appointed as the new vice chairman of the Tyre Industry Federation Board. Gaster takes over from Steve Tidmarsh of Kumho Tyres who represents the Imported Tyre Manufacturers Association (ITMA) on the board and who stood down at the meeting. Jim Rickard of Michelin, the Inaugural Chairman of the TIF continues as Chairman.

Commented NTDA Director Richard Edy: “We are delighted that NTDA has been given the opportunity to take on this key role in the TIF which we see playing a pivotal role in promoting the interests of the multi billion pound UK Tyre Industry.”

NTDA became members of the TIF last year and have four members on the board, Peter Gaster, John Tarbox of Pan Autos and the Immediate Past Chairman of the NTDA and Richard Edy.

25th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Fragrant Tyres Online

The world’s first lavender-scented tyres will soon be beguiling traffic and its drivers, passengers and pedestrians. Delticom has begun selling Kumho’s fragrant tyres in size 205/55 R 16 W Ecsta SPT through its online shops across Europe.

The Ultra High Performance (UHP) tyres from Kumho’s Ecsta line disperses its fragrance at warm atmospheric conditions to a radius of around 10 metres. The secret of the fragrant tyres is heat resistant oils, which give off a pleasant aroma. These unique tyres also have all the characteristics of a high performing tyre. Kumho Ecsta tyres are impressive for their high safety standards and driving stability on wet and dry roads, their long lifetimes and low noise levels.

18th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Kumho Official Supplier to US MX-5 Cup

One of Kumho Tire’s main US market tyre lines, the ultra high performance ECSTA, has been selected as the official tyre of the Sports Car Club of America’s Mazda MX-5 Cup, U.S.A. Kumho will provide ECSTA V700 tyres to all cars participating in the competition for the next 2 years, a total of more than 2,000 tyres per year.

“Our being selected as the official tyre provider of Mazda MX-5 Cup will positively display our tyre making technology in Northern America, and it will all promote Kumho’s reputation and tyre exports” said a company representative. Kumho sold US$150,000,000 of UHP tyres in North American markets last year and is planning to increase tyre exports to $200,000,000 dollars per year in the same region through increased marketing and active participation in various motor sport contests.

8th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

New Tyre Cord Factory Earmarked for Vietnam

On June 7 South Korean industrial giant Hyosung Corp. revealed its plans to build a new £80 million tyre cord facility in Vietnam by 2010 as part of its drive to expand global production. The plant will be located in Dong Nai province, near Ho Chi Minh City, and will eventually produce 53,000 tons of tyre cord annually, much of which will be destined for export to Europe, South America and other parts of Asia.

7th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Kumho Expands US OE Sales Office

(Akron/Tire Review) Kumho Tire USA Inc. has hired new key personnel at its OE sales office in Detroit. Former Ford product development engineer Gregory Dabkowski joined Kumho as Ford account manager. Dabkowski has spent the last 29 years at Ford, where he managed successful launches of key Ford programs.

In his new position, Dabkowski will be responsible for managing and coordinating Kumho’s tyre development and launch activities with Ford. He will also advise on commercial, quality, product design and marketing issues related to Ford programs. Dabkowski earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan at Dearborn.

David Dobradenka joined Kumho as OE quality manager. He has more than 14 years of quality engineering and management experience with automotive suppliers. He had been quality manager at ABB Corp. in Auburn Hills, Mich.

1st June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Kumho Chosen for Green LCV

Coventry based manufacturer of zero emission commercial vehicles, Modec Limited, have chosen to fit Kumho tyres as OE on their range of environmentally friendly vehicles. Kumho will supply freight truck tyres to Modec, who officially opened their Binley factory on March 8. The Modec range of electric light commercial vehicles, which are powered by nickel chloride batteries, reportedly generate 102bhp and can reach a top speed of 50mph with a range of 100mph. The Modec is able to carry a load of up to 2 tons.

Kumho has participated in the development of the Modec from the earliest stages. “I am very honoured to work with Kumho Tires, who have supported this project and process from the beginning,” said Graham Mclntosh, product developer at Modec Limited. “Kumho Tires’ product fits the quality and price of Modec which is in high demand in urban cities.”

29th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors