Hankook Tire

Type	Public (traded on the Korea Stock Exchange)
Founded	1941
Headquarters	Seoul, South Korea
Key people	CEO Cho Yang Rae
Industry	Tire manufacturers
Revenue	4,461,209 (Unit: in Millions of Won - 2008)
Net income	23,543 (Unit: in Millions of Won - 2008)
Employees	5,512 (non-consolidated) in Korea, Worldwide 14,000
Website	http://www.hankooktire.com

The Hankook Tire group, based in Seoul, South Korea is the seventh largest tire company in the world [1]. Established in 1941 as the "Chosun Tire Company", it was renamed "Hankook Tire Manufacturing" in 1968.

Hankook Tire's worldwide reputation has largely grown due to its radial tire and bias-ply tire production. The company now supplies tires as original equipment to the Toyota Motor Corporation, Ford Motor Company trucks, General Motors trucks, International Truck and Engine Corporation, and others. In addition to producing about 50 million tires per annum, the company also sells batteries, alloy wheels, and brake pads.

[edit] Facts and figures

Accroding to Modern Tire Dealer, Hankook's new tire sales for 2007 were $3.5Bn, a 20.7% Year-over-Year increase from 2006 ($2.9Bn) "Hankook" means "Korea" in Korean.

These are quoted from Hankook's European website.

• Sales: US$ 1,620 million /(approx. € 1,286 million)
• Export portion: US$ 700 million /(approx. € 556 million)
• Earnings before taxes: Won 101,5 million /(approx. € 96 million)
• Employees worldwide: 4,422 permanent staff
• Market presence: At present, Hankook tires are available in over 170 countries.
• Production locations:
  • Geumsan plant, South Korea
  • Daejon plant, South Korea
  • Jiangju plant, PR China
  • Jianxing plant, PR China
  • Hungary Plant, Dunaujvaros Hungary (started production in 2007)

[edit] Products

• Optimo Plus
• Optimo Classic
• Optimo Gold
• Optimo Green
• Opti Super
• Ventus
• Mileage Plus
• Sprinter
• Sprinter Ace
• Aurora
• Nordik
• Black Bird
• Hanta Brake Lining & Pad
• Atlas Battery
• Dynapro MT
• Ice Bear W300

[edit] Global offices

The company has its main office in South Korea, and has manufacturing facilities in South Korea, China, and Hungary.

[edit] Motorsports Involvement

Hankook entered motorsports in Europe, North America, and in Asia. They signed with FBR (Farnbarcher Racing) to race a Ferrari F430 GT with Hankook Tires in the 2009 Le Mans Series season. They supplied tires for the Primetime Race Group that raced in the GT2 class of the American Le Mans Series in 2008. They continue to supply tires for IMSA Lites, a support series for the American Le Mans Series. They also supply tires for the Hankook KTR team that races in the Super GT and the Asian Le Mans Series.

[edit] See also

• Economy of South Korea
• List of Korea-related topics

[edit] External links

• Hankook Tire Korean & English website
• Hankook Tire USA website
• Hankook Tire Japan website

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