Audi has released a performance version of its Q8 SUV coupe, and Hankook Tire says it is supplying original equipment tyres. Specifically, the Audi SQ8 TDI will be available with the Hankook Ventus S1 evo 3 SUV and Winter i*cept evo 2 SUV in sizes 285/45 R21 113 Y XL and V XL. A 22-inch fitment of the summer tyre will follow – The SQ8 will receive the Ventus S1 evo 3 SUV in size 285/40 R22.
A new face at Hankook’s Daventry office. As of 1 October, Chang Yool Han holds the position of managing director at Hankook Tyre UK. He succeeds Brett Emerson, who has returned to Bridgestone as director of its Consumer business unit for the North Region.
Three Hankook tyre models have been chosen as original equipment for the new Audi Q8. Customers in Europe can receive their crossover fitted with a size 285/45 R21 113 Y XL Ventus S1 evo 3 SUV or, if selecting a winter tyre, the Winter i*cept evo 2 SUV in 285/45 R21 113 V XL. In North America, the Hankook Dynapro HP 2 Plus will be an original equipment tyre for the Audi Q8 in sizes 275/50 R20 113H X, 285/45 R21 113H XL and 285/40 R22 110H XL. Hankook Tire reports that further dimensions will follow.
Hankook tyres will be fitted to more than 1,100 city buses in Barcelona under a new supply agreement with the city’s main public transit operator, Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB). Tyres will be supplied and fitted by Grupo Soledad, Hankook Tire’s distributor in Spain.
For the past eight years, Hankook Tire has acted as exclusive tyre partner for the DTM touring car series. This year, the tyre maker is complementing its DTM commitment with involvement in four further championships – the Formula Renault Eurocup, Belcar Series, Mini Challenge Italia and the new, all-female W Series.
When Rinspeed presented its microSNAP, a vehicle system with interchangeable chassis and bodies, at this year’s Geneva Motor Show, eagle-eyed visitors may have spotted the display vehicle’s Hankook rubber. It wouldn’t wear anything else: Hankook Tire has been named official tyre partner to the microSNAP project, and the vehicle is kitted out in size 195/40R17 Hankook Ventus S1 evo tyres.
Hankook has supplied several demanding series in 2018, including the DTM, FIA Formula 3 European Championship, 24H Series powered by Hankook, the VLN Endurance Championship, and the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring, with the Ventus Race tyre.
Hankook Tire says it “is ready for winter” with its Winter i*cept RS 2, Winter i*cept Evo 2 and Winter i*Pike RS 2 ranges, and to prove points to the tyres’ performance in independent tyre tests conducted in Germany, Finland, Russia, Sweden and the UK. The tyre maker notes that the testers praised “above all” the handling and braking characteristics of the Hankook tyres on snow.
In a few hours’ time Marseille will square up against Atletico Madrid in this season’s Europa League final, with the Spanish side given short odds to be holding the trophy high at the close of play. Hankook Tire is present in Lyon as sponsor and announced today its commitment to take part in the excitement for a further three years: The tyre maker’s UEFA Europa League support has been extended until the end of the 2020-21 season.
With an investment of approximately 290 million euros, Hankook Tire is adding a truck tyre production unit to its factory in Rácalmás, Hungary. Work on this expansion project – the fourth since the plant opened in 2007 – will begin in June, with production expected to commence in June 2020. The truck tyre production unit will have the capacity to make 550,000 tyres a year, and its opening will create around 150 new jobs.
The original equipment supply relationship between Hankook Tire and Swedish commercial vehicle manufacturer Scania has been extended through the approval of the SmartWork truck tyre series. SmartWork is designed for trucks engaged in construction applications, and the original equipment arrangement covers all Scania vehicles designed for use on construction sites, including the new Scania XT generation of construction vehicles.
Starting yesterday, Han-Jun Kim is president and chief executive officer of Hankook Tire Europe. He succeeds Ho-Youl Pae; having served in this capacity since 2014, Pae now returns to South Korea to take over a new role at the company’s global headquarters.
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