Tyre manufacture at Nexen Tire’s Changnyeong plant in South Korea resumed yesterday after a two-day break in production in order to implement “protective measures” against coronavirus. In disclosures submitted to the Korea Exchange (KRX), the tyre maker reported its intention to suspend tyre production in Changnyeong on 1 and 2 March, and resume operations on 3 March.
Michael Haupt, formerly a tyre development specialist at Porsche, has been appointed head of the ‘Premium OE’ business sector at the recently-opened Nexen Central Research Institute (Nexen univerCITY). In his new position, Haupt will be responsible for creating premium tyres for OEM customers.
Nexen Tire has extended its sponsorship deal with German football club Eintracht Frankfurt through to the 2021/22 season. With the newly extended contract, Nexen Tire enjoy visibility at the Bundesliga club’s home stadium including in broadcast feeds, perimeter boards and commercials.
An official opening ceremony is being held today for Nexen Tire’s new tyre factory in Žatec, Czech Republic. Numerous dignitaries have attended the event, including Petr Očko, the country’s Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Travis Kang, Nexen Tire’s global chief executive officer, and Byung-Joong Kang, the company’s chairman.
Last season’s engagement with ‘domestic treble’ winner Manchester City F.C. gave Nexen Tire abundant exposure. The tyre maker returns again in 2019/20 as an Official Partner, its fifth season with the club and its third as Sleeve Partner. The current season got underway with a 5-0 win against West Ham last Saturday.
Following on from the two tyres launched last year, the N’Fera Sport and Winguard Sport 2 SUV, Nexen Tire has introduced further additions to its portfolio. The company presented the new pair, the Nexen N’Fera Primus and Nexen Roadian AT 4×4, at the Autopromotec show in Bologna this month.
Nexen Tire has a new R&D hub – the Nexen Central Research Institute, or Nexen univerCITY. Located in the Magok Industrial Complex in Seoul, South Korea, the 57,000 square metre facility will act as a research and development hub for Nexen Tire’s centres in the USA, Europe and China. More than 300 people attended an official opening ceremony for the Nexen univerCITY late last month.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) announced today that it has fined Kumho Tire and Nexen Tire for forcing South Korean retailers to sell tyres at or above specific set prices.
South Korean tyre makers are well-represented at the iF Design Award 2019. In addition to the trio of awards that Hankook Tire will walk away with at next month’s ceremony, Nexen Tire shares that it’s Nexen N’Fera AU7 is a winner in the ‘Product’ category of this year’s awards.
Nexen Tire Europe has celebrated its 25-year business relationship with Grupo Soledad together with 100 guests in Madrid. Guests included replacement customers, car dealers as well as Rental and Leasing companies.
South Korean tyre maker Nexen Tire has established itself as a serious player in Europe and around the world, however after entering the top 20 of the Tyrepess.com global ‘largest companies’ list in 2016 at 19th place – an achievement driven by turnover growth over a number of years – it found itself again on the wrong side of this divider in 2017. But it will very likely return to the top 20 next time round.
Nexen Tire’s supply of original equipment tyres to Volkswagen Group models has been extended. As of this year, three Nexen tyres are being delivered to the VW plant in Pamplona, Spain for fitment on the Polo as well as to the Seat plant in Martorell, Spain, where they are mounted on the Ibiza model produced there. The tyres in question are the Nexen the N’blue HD Plus in sizes 185/65R15 88H and 215/45 R17 91 W as well as the Nexen N’Fera SU1 in size 195/55R16 91V.
Upon kicking off its sponsorship of Manchester City FC for 2018/19, Nexen Tire states that it plans to continue utilising its relationship with last season’s Premier League champion throughout the game season to “expand its global loyal fan-base by increasing touchpoints for customers to directly engage and experience the Nexen Tire brand.” As was the case in 2017/18, Nexen will continue as official sleeve partner.
Nexen Tire recently presented a pair of new additions to its portfolio, the Nexen N’Fera Sport SU2 and the Nexen Winguard Sport 2 SUV. The first of these is positioned in the UHP segment and the second offers SUV fitments for 15- to 19-inch rim diameters. Both tyres will be available as of 2019.
The Global Management Association, a research evaluation institution operated by South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, has voted Nexen Tire the tyre segment winner of its Global Customer Satisfaction Competency Index (GCSI) for the ninth consecutive year. The tyre maker’s victory is based upon feedback received by the approximately 102,000 respondents to an online survey performed in April 2018. The survey rated companies in categories such as customer satisfaction, customer value, global competency and loyalty.