Hankook Tire & Technology Co., Ltd. (Korean: 한국타이어앤테크놀로지 주식회사; Hanja: 韓國타이어앤테크놀로지株式會社; RR: Hanguk-Taieo-aen-Tekeunolloji Jusikhoesa; lit. '(South) Korea'), also known simply as Hankook (/ˈhæŋkʊk/HANG-kuuk, Korean:[haːnɡuk̚]), is a South Korean tire company based in Seoul. It is the seventh largest tire company in the world.[1] It is a part of Hankook & Company.
The company now supplies tires as original equipment to various automakers. In addition to producing about 102 million tires annually, the company also sells batteries, alloy wheels, and brake pads.
In 2011, Hankook Tire Co. announced that the company will invest $1.1 billion to build a factory in West Java, Indonesia as part of a plan to become the 5th largest tire manufacturer in the world.[2] On June 9, 2011 a ground breaking ceremony was held at a 60-hectare area as a regional hub production for export to Asian, North America and Middle East countries.[3]
In October 2013, the company announced plans to open a new factory in Clarksville, Tennessee which was later opened in October 2017.[4][5]
Facts and figures
According to Modern Tire Dealer, Hankook's new tire sales for 2007 were $3.5 billion, a 20.7% year-over-year increase from 2006 ($2.9 billion).[citation needed]
In April 2016, the company announced it would move its North American headquarters from Wayne, New Jersey, to Nashville, Tennessee. This move is reported to create up to 200 jobs in Davidson County and the company would be investing $5 million in the process.[6]
Hankook sponsored Formula Drift driver Chris Forsberg, a three-time champion (with his most recent championship coming as recent as the 2016 season), until the 2018 season.
Hankook was the official tire supllier for Super Taikyu championship series that held in Japan from 2021 until 2023.[8] Due the fire severely damaged Hankook's Daejeon plant in 2023, the company withdrawn its supplying contract for the Super Taikyu series.[9] As the result, Bridgestone took over Hankook's position in Super Taikyu on 24 April 2023 and effective immediately, as initially announced to start the contract for the 2024 season.[10]
Hankook sponsors the New Zealand Super Rugby team the Crusaders.
Hankook is one of the sponsors of the UEFA Europa League since 2012. In 2021, Hankook's partnership with UEFA was renewed and will include sponsoring the new UEFA Europa Conference League through the Laufenn brand.[16][17]
Hankook is also involved in drifting sponsorship in a number of countries, most notably in North America in the Formula D championship and in Ireland in the Prodrift championship.
Hankook is the official tire supplier of the reality TV series Car Warriors.
Hankook is also involved with simracing, as the main sponsor for Liga ZGT and ApexGT e-Sports, brazilians Gran Turismo Sport Simracing League.
Since 2018, Hankook has been the official tire of Major League Baseball[18] and sponsored the 2020 MLB Wild Card Series.[19]
Since 2019, Hankook is the main sponsor of SVRT, a Gran Turismo Sport SimRacing Team.
In 2021 Hankook will be sponsoring the 3DBotMaker Diecast Racing League on YouTube.
Awards
Traditionally, Hankook has applied for international product design competitions. The received awards are widely used in the company's marketing activities, for example, at specialized exhibitions, during training seminars for dealers, in printed catalogs and advertising. Hankook received most of the awards from the German-based organizations International Forum Design and Red Dot.
A list of awards that Hankook consumer tires have received at various times[20]
Tire
Competition
Award
Year
Hankook Optimo 4S H730
iF Design Award
Winner
2009
Hankook Winter icept evo W310
Red Dot Design Award
Honorable mention
2010
Hankook Ventus S1 evo2 K117
iF Design Award
Winner
2012
Hankook Winter icept evo W310
Good Design Awards (Chicago Athenaeum)
Good Design Awards
2012
Hankook Ventus V2 concept2 H457
Korean Good Design Award
Good Design Awards
2013
Hankook Ventus V12 evo2 K120
Korean Good Design Award
Good Design Awards
2013
Hankook Dynapro HP2 RA33
Korean Good Design Award
Good Design Awards
2013
Hankook Ventus V12 evo2 K120
Red Dot Design Award
Winner
2014
Hankook Kinergy 4S H740
iF Design Award
Winner
2014
Hankook Ventus S1 evo2 K117
Good Design Awards (Japan Institute of Design Promotion)
Good Design Awards
2014
Hankook Ventus S1 noble2 H452
iF Design Award
Winner
2015
Hankook Ventus V2 concept2 H457
iF Design Award
Winner
2015
Hankook Smart Flex AH31
iF Design Award
Winner
2015
Hankook Winter icept evo2 W320
Red Dot Design Award
Winner
2015
Hankook Winter icept evo2 W320
Korean Good Design Award
Good Design Awards
2015
Hankook Winter icept evo2 W320
iF Design Award
Winner
2016
Hankook Ventus Prime3 K125
Red Dot Design Award
Winner
2016
Hankook Smart Flex AH35
Red Dot Design Award
Winner
2016
Hankook Kinergy 4S2 H750
iF Design Award
Winner
2019
Hankook Ventus S1 evo3 K127
Red Dot Design Award
Winner
2019
Hankook Winter icept evo3 W330
Red Dot Design Award
Winner
2020
Hankook Winter icept evo3 W330
iF Design Award
Winner
2020
Hankook Dynapro AT2 RF11
Red Dot Design Award
Winner
2020
Hankook Dynapro MT2 RT05
Red Dot Design Award
Winner
2020
Hankook also earned several awards for its concept tires. The latest ones are the Hexonic smart tire for autonomous car sharing and the futuristic Aeroflow racing tire for motorsport competition. In 2019, both tires won the US-based International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA).