It’s business as usual for Kumho Tyre and Tottenham Hotspur FC. Five years after signing a deal that gave the club a new Official Tyre Partner, the two protagonists have announced a long-term extension to the arrangement.
Renault’s new Arkana will exclusively ride on Kumho tyres. Depending on model, the hybrid compact SUV will wear Kumho Ecsta HS51 tyres in sizes 215/60R17 or 215/55R18.
Kumho Tire Europe has a vision to “grow into a major brand,” shares Namhwa Cho. Speaking with the CEO Edit, a show presented outside the UK by BBC StoryWorks, the Kumho Tire Europe president spoke about the tyre maker’s aspirations as well as its experiences during the pandemic and plans to capitalise on mobility megatrends.
The eleven leading tyre manufacturer members of WBCSD’s Tire Industry Project (TIP) have launched a Roadmap to accelerate tyre value-chain impact on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs were adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 to address some of the world’s most pressing issues by 2030. The members of TIP, in alphabetical order, are: Bridgestone, Continental, Cooper Tire, Goodyear, Hankook, Kumho Tire, Michelin, Pirelli, Sumitomo Rubber, Toyo Tires, and Yokohama Rubber.
A further Red Dot accolade for Kumho, which has won a Red Dot Design Award 2021 in the ‘product design’ category. The Red Dot team honoured Kumho for its latest street legal competition tyre, the Ecsta V730. Kumho launched the Ecsta V730 in the US market earlier this year.
Kumho Tire has shared further details of the planned production capacity increase at its facility in Vietnam, as well as news of an associated project in the USA. The tyre maker says the US$305 million investment will double capacity at the Binh Duong Province site by 2023. This means that annual output should reach at least 9.3 million tyres per annum by that time. As previously stated, the project will commence in the third quarter of this year and run until the early part of 2023.
Il Taik Jung has been appointed Kumho Tire president and CEO. Jung joined the company in 1988 having previously held several senior positions. These include head of both the R&D Centre and Quality Division. Kumho states that these experiences are among the strengths that have led to his latest promotion. Jung is tasked with promoting an agile organisation culture that can quickly react to changing tyre markets and consumer needs at Kumho, the company states. Jung says that “R&D technology is the means by which future responsiveness in a competitive environment is best developed.”
Kumho’s extensive truck tyre range has benefited from “significant investment in new technology”, according to the manufacturer. It says it has recognised the growing demand for multi-purpose tyres. Kumho now offers its 3PMSF marked KXS10 steer and KXD10 drive patterns in 315/70, 295/80 and 315/80R22.5 fitments. The range offers all-season performance across a variety of operational demands, together with increased mileage.
Kumho Tire Co., South Korea’s second-largest tire maker, said Tuesday it will sell its natural rubber processing plant in Vietnam to focus on its core business. According to an official statement published on 23 March 2021, Kumho Tire said it has struck a deal with a joint venture between Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co. and Thanh Cong Group of Vietnam to sell its rubber factory.
Kumho Tire Co is planning to invest some 340 billion won (£217 million; 255 million euros; US$298 million) in expanding its tyre production facilities in Vietnam. The planned investment aimed at bracing for an increase in demand from North American markets and mitigating tariff-related price pressure, according to local news sources.
Kumho has a new tyre for the European van and light commercial vehicle segment. Introducing the Kumho PorTran 4S CX11, the tyre maker says its newcomer combines the strengths of the Solus 4S HA32 all-season passenger car pattern and its existing winter specification van tyre, the Winter PorTran CW11. The result, says Kumho, is a tyre that “ensures safe, secure driving and excellent braking performance throughout the year.
The breadth of Kumho’s 4×4 tyre range has been further enhanced by the addition of the new Ectsa PS71 SUV in some 12 sizes, specially developed for large, powerful SUVs and designed for 100 per cent on-road use. As a result, the vast majority of requirements will be covered by the newcomer and other on-road products such as the Crugen HP91 and HP71, plus the cross-functional Road Venture patterned MT51 and AT61. Between them, they cover everything from top-end SUVs such as the Audi Q7, Range Rover and BMW X5 to the ever-popular classic Land Rover Defender.
With starting fields of more than 50 tyres and two rounds of product evaluation, Auto Bild’s tyre tests count amongst the most thorough and authoritative in the business. Kumho is therefore justifiably proud that its Ecsta HS51 achieved outright victory in the Auto Bild 2021 summer tyre test.
Anyone who’s ever suggested that motoring magazines favour the same two or three brands in their tyre tests will be quietened by the results of the Auto Bild 2021 summer tyre test. The biggest names in the business needed to clear space on the top step of the winners’ podium for an ambitious competitor, while the runner-up Continental tyre was given a run for its money by its lower-priced sibling Semperit.
Summer tyre tests in 2021 have highlighted the sometimes dazzling qualities of the best performing tyre products. However, the Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobilclub’s (ADAC) most recent test appears to have been particularly demanding. No tyre received ADAC’s top “very good” rating, and only five models were rated “good” over the two sizes tested – 205/55 R16 V and 225/50 R17 Y. There were some intriguing results at the top of the table. Falken confirmed its increasingly impressive performance of recent years by winning the 17” tyre test with its Azenis FK510 flagship UHP tyre. The Kumho Ecsta PS71 also achieved a “good” rating in the 17” test, while Continental group brand Semperit’s Speed-Life 3 achieved an overall result matching the Conti PremiumContact 6 in the 16” test. There was worse news for the 17” Firestone Roadhawk, which became the only tyre to receive an “inadequate” report.
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