Kumho Tires Keen on Formula 1
Kumho Tire Corp has officially decided to take on the challenge of Formula 1, said company president, Sae-Chul Oh, during a Formula 3 Euro Series event.
Posts
Retailers Strengthen Voice Through the TIC
Product NewsNick Gregg, group managing director at ATS Euromaster, has been appointed to join the Tyre Industry Council later this year, strengthening the retail representation on the Council.
The TIC claims that its tyre safety work is expanding, particularly in the area of tyre safety clinics and roadside tyre checks, and so welcomes the support from retailers as well as tyre manufacturers.
Kumho Increases Prices
Product NewsKumho Tire USA Inc is to increase prices on all of its tyres, effective of the 1 October.
Prices of the company’s passenger, light truck and commercial truck tyres will increase anywhere from three per cent to five per cent, depending on the model.
David Hudrlik, vice president and director of sales, referred to escalating raw material prices and rising shipping costs as the reasons for the increase. The company gave the same reasons for increasing its tyre prices in May.
Kumho Gives In To Union Demands On Labour
Product NewsIn Korea, Kumho has given in to demands from its union to change the status of 282 part time workers to become full time staff. 360 out of a total of 427 unionised workers at the two plants in Kwangju and Koksong voted for the change, which the company estimates will increase labour costs by 30 per cent.
Kumho withdraws race tyres
Product NewsKumho Tire U.S.A. is recalling some 1,400 ECSTA V710 competition tyres because of “inconsistent test results relating to tread splice and tread area durability. “Kumho have said, “Kumho Tire’s priority is safety, and we are committed to supplying our customers with the highest quality and best performing tyres that are available anywhere in the world. It is with this philosophy in mind that Kumho is taking immediate action in discontinuing the sale of the ECSTA V710 Competition Tire. The sale of the ECSTA V710 Competition Tire will be discontinued immediately, and tyres in use in the market will be collected from consumers. Kumho will replace them with either the Kumho ECSTA V700 or Victoracer tyre free of charge.”
Kumho Donates $ 100,000 Worth of Tires to Iran
Product NewsKumho Tire Co., Inc. donated 3,290 units of tires equivalent to USD100,000 to Islamic Republic of Iran in humanitarian support in the aftermath of the catastrophic damage in terms of both human life and property following an earthquake.
Kumho builds second plant in China
Product NewsKumho Tire Co. Inc. is building a second tyre plant in China, next to an existing plant in Nanjing, that will double annual production capacity in China to 10 million units by 2008. The 130 million US dollar project will provide Nanjing Kumho Tire Co. Ltd. with additional capacity aiming to increase its share of the passenger radial market in China to 25 per cent, according to Kumho. In conjunction with the expansion project, Nanjing Kumho is setting up distribution hubs in northern China. The project is separate from a new plant Kumho opened recently in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, using proprietary automated technology.
Kumho Moves Up A Place In World Rankings
Product NewsKumho Tire has moved up from tenth to ninth position in the list of world tyre manufacturers, published by US magazine Tire Business. With sales of over $1.44 billion last year – a double-digit increase – Kumho overtook Toyo in the world rankings. Tire Business estimates that the top three tyre manufacturers control 60 per cent of the world tyre market, and the top ten account for 80 per cent.
New Production Process From Kumho
Product NewsKumho is the latest tyre manufacturer to introduce a new method of tyre manufacture. Known as APU (Advanced Processing Units), the modular system is being incorporated in the new Kumho factory that is being built at Pyongtaek, Korea, close to some major car assembly plants. The new factory will be dedicated to tyre production for the OE market and the first module will start production in November this year. Further modules will come on stream at the rate of one per month until full capacity is reached in February 2004. This full capacity will be in excess of two million tyres a year.
Kumho: Big change and no change
Product NewsKumho Industrial, until recently the owner of Kumho Tire, has been trying to find a new investor for the tyre division. An investor that would allow the incumbent management and strategies to remain in place, albeit in an enhanced form. The new arrangement is such that the Tire Business Unit has been acquired, with a 50 per cent share being taken by the Military Mutual Aid Association, a military pension fund. Kumho retains a 30 per cent share, and the balance is made up from a number of smaller investors. This establishes a new joint venture with an initial value of 1.2 billion US Dollars. T&A visited J. M. Kim, managing director of Kumho UK, to get a first hand reaction to the new joint venture.
Kumho Agrees Sale Of Tire Business Unit
Product NewsKumho Industrial Co., Ltd. has announced that it has agreed to sell its Tire Business Unit for the sum of Won 1.428 trillion (US$ 1.2 billion). The Tire Business Unit will be acquired by a new joint venture company whose principal shareholder will be South Korea’s military pension fund, the Military Mutual Aid Association (MMAA). The new joint venture company is to be established during June with Won 500 billion (US$ 410 million) of paid-up capital. The MMAA will own 50 per cent of the company with Kumho Industrial taking a 30 per cent stake. The remaining 20 per cent will be distributed between several smaller investors.
Kumho To Be Control Tyre For International F3 Series
Product NewsKumho will be the sole supplier to the new Formula 3 Euro Series, supplying its ECSTA Formula 3 slicks and wet weather tyres to all teams. The series comprises ten races between April and October next year and the races take place in five different countries (Germany, Italy, France, Austria and The Netherlands).
Kumho Winter Tyre Wins Ecolabel Award
Product NewsKumho has become the first tyre manufacturer to be awarded the “Green Swan” Ecolabel for a new product. Both the company’s KWN7401 I’Zen tyre and the manufacturing process passed stringent tests set by the Nordic Ecolabelling Board. These had to demonstrate that the tyre was made with the lowest possible impact on the environment and that it operated in an environmentally friendly way during its lifetime, with low noise levels, low rolling resistance and the ability to be reused after its first life.
Kumho In Talks With Pension Fund?
Product NewsFollowing the breakdown of talks between Kumho and the consortium led by JP Morgan Chase and Carlyle Group, concerning the sale of 80 per cent of Kumho’s Tyre Division, a media report from Korea says that talks are on-going with the South Korea Military Pension Fund to buy the company. Neither the fund, nor Kumho, nor the state-run Korea Development Bank, which the report says would provide funding for any deal, would comment on the report.
Kumho Talks Come To Nothing
Product NewsThe talks between the Kumho Group and the US consortium of JP Morgan Chase and the Carlyle Group, aimed at selling Kumho’s tyre division, have broken down. The disagreement was over prices, with a Kumho spokesman quoted as saying that the consortium’s offer price was “really cheap” and unacceptable. Earlier in the year, the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding to sell 80 per cent of the Kumho Tyre, but this expired in November with no deal finalised. Kumho says it is talking to another – as yet unnamed – buyer.
