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.
On the back of higher volumes, Nexen Tire reports t its net sales in the second quarter of 2017 rose 4.2 per cent year-on-year to KRW 514.1 billion (£350.4 million). Operating profit was, however, impacted by the high costs of raw materials in the first half of this year and fell 37.4 per cent to KRW 43.6 billion (£29.7 million). The operating margin decreased by 4.0 percentage points year-on-year to 7.8 per cent.
Further ‘silverware’ for Nexen Tire – two of the South Korean manufacturer’s products, the N’Fera AU7 and the Breathre concept tyre, have received International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA).
Abu Dhabi-based investor Mubadala Investment Company has Nexen Tire on its radar, and this has led to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two firms. According to Nexen Tire, the agreement its chief executive officer Travis (Ho-chan) Kang formalised yesterday with Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, Mubadala’s managing director and group chief executive officer, sets out ways and means for both parties to “explore strategic partnership opportunities.” Mubadala has directly invested into Nexen as part of the agreement, however so far the tyre maker hasn’t disclosed the extent of this investment.
Nexen Tire has announced that prices for its tyres will increase in all European markets as of 1 June. The Korean manufacturer’s range of passenger car tyres – summer and all-season – will rise linearly by four per cent.
A new multi-year partnership with Melbourne City FC will give Nexen Tire branding presence on players’ uniforms. Initially the Nexen logo will appear on the Australian football club’s training kit as it goes into the 2017 Finals Series, and from the start of the 2017/18 season it will also be present on the men’s away kit sleeves. The sponsorship arrangement also covers Melbourne City’s women’s team, and provides Nexen with match day benefits including signage at the team’s home ground, player appearances and ticketing opportunities.
Nexen Tire has become Manchester City and the English Premier League’s first ever sleeve sponsor. The move announced today (17 March 2017) at Manchester City Football Academy, came as Nexen renewed its partnership with the top-flight football club for three more years following the initial contract signed between Nexen and Manchester City (Man City) in August 2015. This takes the sponsorship right up to the 2019/2020 season. No specific financial details were revealed, but Tyres & Accessories understands that the new contract represents “increased investment on the previous deal”, according to Man City chief commercial officer, Tom Glick.
Nexen Tire has overhauled its global website. The nexentire.com site is said to be more “digital friendly” and in addition to displaying corporate and product news, including a comparative Key Performance Indicator function, visitors to the site can read and view content uploaded to Facebook, YouTube, or various blogs, and also share content from the website with other social media platforms. As expected, the site is designed for use with a number of devices.
Travis (Ho-chan) Kang, chief executive officer of Nexen Tire, has taken part in the official inauguration of a new joint venture company set up to sell the Nexen and Roadstone tyre brands in Japan. The joint venture is called Nexen Tire Japan Inc. and is 51 per cent owned by Nexen Tire, with Toyota Tsusho Corporation, the Toyota Group’s trading arm, holding the remaining 49 per cent share.
While turnover at Nexen Tire was just stable in the third quarter of this year, the third-largest South Korean tyre maker was much more profitable. Turnover amounted to KRW 470.2 billion (£322.4 million), down a whisker from the KRW 470.3 billion recorded a year earlier, however operating profit rose 28.4 per cent to KRW 65.4 billion (£44.9 million). Operating margin increased year-on-year from 11.0 per cent to 13.9 per cent. The company’s ordinary profit also increased, up 102.3 percent to KRW 53.6 billion (£36.8 million).
A new Nexen Tire microsite promoting the company’s partnership with Manchester City FC has gone live. The http://nexen-mancity.com site contains news about the football club and its players, as well as information on Nexen’s partnership activities and news about the tyre maker in general. Images of Manchester City FC in action can also be found in the site’s gallery.
In an extension of its sports marketing activities within Europe, Nexen Tire will gain advertising space on perimeter LED boards at two clubs competing in Italy’s Serie A championship. The tyre maker also returns as official sponsor of Manchester City FC for a second season.
A tyre manufacturer has announced a sponsorship agreement and – you’d better read this sitting down – it doesn’t involve football. Nexen Tire has signed up as an official sponsor of The 7th International Antonín Dvořák Composition Competition that will be held from 24 July to 1 August at the Prague Conservatoire in the Czech Republic. Nexen comments that this sponsorship forms part of its “cultural marketing strategy.”
For the seventh year in a row, Nexen Tire has topped the tyre category in Global Customer Satisfaction Competency Index (GCSI), a survey carried out by the Global Management Association in Korea under the supervision of Japan’s JMA Consultants. The tyre maker was honoured for this result at a ceremony in Beijing on 23 June, with Yang Chang-soo, president of Nexen Tire Qingdao, accepting the official award certificate on behalf of Nexen Tire.
Nexen Tire intends to entirely renew its European market winter tyre portfolio over the coming two years, and it got this underway at Reifen 2016 today with the launch of a brand new all-season range. The new line-up was presented by Ralf Flachbarth, development engineer at Nexen Tire Europe; Flachbarth shared that the N’Blue 4 Season was targeted at the small to mid-size vehicle segments and will be available in 38 sizes for 13 to 17-inch rim diameters.
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