Hankook Tire’s SmartLine AL52 tires for business autos / Courtesy of Hankook Tire
By Lee Min-hyung
Hankook Tire is ready to attain balanced development by strengthening its place within the business automobile tire market, the corporate introduced Thursday.
The tire firm has already solidified its place as a tire maker for sedans and SUVs, however tires for vans and buses are additionally rising as one of many agency’s main development pillars, in keeping with the corporate.
Hankook Tire provides business automobile tires for international carmakers, corresponding to Mercedes-Benz, Daimler Truck, Stellantis, Hyundai Motor and Kia.
Whereas the variety of business autos is decrease than that of typical vehicles, tires for vans and buses have acquired much less consideration. Nevertheless, Hankook Tire’s tire enterprise for such business autos performs a major position as a hidden champion, contributing considerably to the corporate’s sustainable development inside the broader tire business.
Knowledge additionally helps the corporate’s strategic emphasis on business automobile tires. In keeping with the corporate, its tire gross sales for vans and buses account for greater than half of its whole gross sales in Europe and North America. By area, North America accounted for 39 p.c of the agency’s truck and bus tire gross sales in 2023, whereas these of Europe got here in at 28 p.c.
Hankook Tire is in search of to develop its manufacturing strains internationally in response to the rising demand for truck and bus tires. The corporate can be adopting the technique to scale back dangers related to potential exterior political points, significantly the rise of protectionism.
The tire producer is pushing forward with aggressive manufacturing line expansions in Hungary and Tennessee, United States.
“The technique goals to attenuate the influence of exterior components, corresponding to tariffs and laws, ensuing from rising protectionism within the U.S. and Europe,” an official from the corporate stated.
“We additionally achieve this to make sure steady and sustainable development. We’ll preserve strengthening our model competitiveness within the international market by enhancing manufacturing capability and increasing distribution infrastructures throughout the globe.”
