Nexen Tire has a new R&D hub – the Nexen Central Research Institute, or Nexen univerCITY. Located in the Magok Industrial Complex in Seoul, South Korea, the 57,000 square metre facility will act as a research and development hub for Nexen Tire’s centres in the USA, Europe and China. More than 300 people attended an official opening ceremony for the Nexen univerCITY late last month.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) announced today that it has fined Kumho Tire and Nexen Tire for forcing South Korean retailers to sell tyres at or above specific set prices.
South Korean tyre makers are well-represented at the iF Design Award 2019. In addition to the trio of awards that Hankook Tire will walk away with at next month’s ceremony, Nexen Tire shares that it’s Nexen N’Fera AU7 is a winner in the ‘Product’ category of this year’s awards.
Nexen Tire Europe has celebrated its 25-year business relationship with Grupo Soledad together with 100 guests in Madrid. Guests included replacement customers, car dealers as well as Rental and Leasing companies.
South Korean tyre maker Nexen Tire has established itself as a serious player in Europe and around the world, however after entering the top 20 of the Tyrepess.com global ‘largest companies’ list in 2016 at 19th place – an achievement driven by turnover growth over a number of years – it found itself again on the wrong side of this divider in 2017. But it will very likely return to the top 20 next time round.
Nexen Tire’s supply of original equipment tyres to Volkswagen Group models has been extended. As of this year, three Nexen tyres are being delivered to the VW plant in Pamplona, Spain for fitment on the Polo as well as to the Seat plant in Martorell, Spain, where they are mounted on the Ibiza model produced there. The tyres in question are the Nexen the N’blue HD Plus in sizes 185/65R15 88H and 215/45 R17 91 W as well as the Nexen N’Fera SU1 in size 195/55R16 91V.
Upon kicking off its sponsorship of Manchester City FC for 2018/19, Nexen Tire states that it plans to continue utilising its relationship with last season’s Premier League champion throughout the game season to “expand its global loyal fan-base by increasing touchpoints for customers to directly engage and experience the Nexen Tire brand.” As was the case in 2017/18, Nexen will continue as official sleeve partner.
Nexen Tire recently presented a pair of new additions to its portfolio, the Nexen N’Fera Sport SU2 and the Nexen Winguard Sport 2 SUV. The first of these is positioned in the UHP segment and the second offers SUV fitments for 15- to 19-inch rim diameters. Both tyres will be available as of 2019.
The Global Management Association, a research evaluation institution operated by South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, has voted Nexen Tire the tyre segment winner of its Global Customer Satisfaction Competency Index (GCSI) for the ninth consecutive year. The tyre maker’s victory is based upon feedback received by the approximately 102,000 respondents to an online survey performed in April 2018. The survey rated companies in categories such as customer satisfaction, customer value, global competency and loyalty.
Victory in the all-season tyre test carried out by several European motoring organisations is, says Nexen Tire, proof of the superiority of its N’Blue 4 Season. The Nexen rubber was ranked first in the test of nine 175/65R14 T/H tyres thanks to its good performance in wet and icy conditions.
Nexen Tire is revelling in Manchester City FC’s Premier League success. Travis Kang, chief executive officer of Nexen Tire, states that as official tyre partner, Nexen is “thrilled” with Manchester City’s confirmation as Premier League champion.
From 15 January, Jong Sun Kim will become acting chief executive officer of Nexen Tire Corporation’s business in North America. He replaces James Kwon and will oversee the tyre maker’s operations in the USA and Canada.
With new factories in Europe and now also the US Nexen Tire is growing in terms of global production capacity. However, the firm is also investing in developing its brand, especially in terms of football sponsorship. Recently Tyres & Accessories looked into how the company is combining the two in order to meet its goal of entering the global top 10 by 2025.
In 1976 Kettering Tyres paid local football club Kettering Town FC to print its logo on the front of the team shirt. The move caused ructions in what was then known as the first division and didn’t last long, but it did set a precedent for sponsorship that went to the next level this year. 41 years later, shirt sponsorship in the English Premier League (called Football League First Division back then), which brought in £226.5 million in sponsor revenues during the 2016-17 season, is very big business.
Groundbreaking has taken place on the new tyre technology centre that Nexen Tire is setting up in the US, and the South Korean company also reports that plans to establish a factory in North America are “in progress.”
A new generation UHP winter product from Nexen Tire was unveiled at Autopromotec show on 25 May, and the Korean manufacturer states that its performance in all main areas – wet, dry and snow – is superior to that of the previous incarnation tyre. This replacement to the Winguard Sport range is called the Winguard Sport2, and it will be available for the coming winter in 25 sizes.
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