Cho Hyun-bum is now the sole head of Hankook & Company, the holding company that oversees Hankook Tire & Technology and seven other affiliates. Older brother Cho Hyun-sik announced his resignation as vice-chairman in a letter to shareholders yesterday
Hankook Tire is an International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) 2019 ‘Finalist’ in the automotive and transportation category. It has gained distinction thanks to its Hexonic and HLS-23 concept tyres.
Hankook will continue as the exclusive supplier of DTM for the next four years, having signed an early extension to its partnership contract with DTM marketer ITR. The tyre maker has been involved in one of the most popular international touring car series as official partner and exclusive tyre supplier since 2011. The new contract means Hankook will become the longest-standing tyre supplier in the history of the international racing series.
Hankook Tire has been named a winner in two categories of the iF Design Award 2019. We won’t know all the details until the awards ceremony is held on 15 March, however the tyre maker says it is receiving three awards in total in the ‘Professional Concept’ and ‘Product’ award categories for its work on the Hexonic and HLS-23 concept tyres and its Hankook Kinergy 4S² all-season car tyre.
Hankook Tire is once again a GM Supplier of the Year awardee. General Motors honoured the tyre maker as one of its 132 best suppliers at a ceremony held on 20 April. This is the second consecutive year Hankook has received the award.
In addition to new president and CEO Soo Il Lee, who will serve alongside Hyun Bum Cho as a separate representative of the company from 1 January 2018, Hankook Tire Co. Ltd. has named a new executive vice-president, five senior vice-presidents and 17 vice-presidents. Announcing these appointments, the tyre maker states that it has restructured its organisation to “respond to the global market and customers with more agility.”
An all-new tyre brand from Hankook Tire was unveiled at the SEMA show in Las Vegas yesterday. This new range from the Korean tyre maker will be sold under the Laufenn name, and although its initial launch is restricted to ten markets in North America, Latin America and the Asia Pacific region, Hankook describes Laufenn as a “global tyre brand” and says it will be introduced in Europe and other regions “in the coming years,” although a European launch in 2015 looks highly unlikely.
