When it comes to aesthetics in the wheel sector, it’s understandable that the focus tends to be on the rims. But the SportContact 7 shows that tyres too can deliver exceptional form and design alongside superb performance. The Continental tyre has picked up a Red Dot Award for Product design and an iF Design Award.
Red Dot isn’t announcing its Product Design 2022 winners until 20 June, but Nexen Tire have let us in on the secret that two of its products are awardees. The Nexen N’Blue 4 Season 2 and N’Blue 4 Season Van are winners in the Product Design category this year.
A further Red Dot accolade for Kumho, which has won a Red Dot Design Award 2021 in the ‘product design’ category. The Red Dot team honoured Kumho for its latest street legal competition tyre, the Ecsta V730. Kumho launched the Ecsta V730 in the US market earlier this year.
Kumho Tire has the distinction of being the only tyre manufacturer to be honoured with a 2020 China Red Dot Design award. It gained this accolade via the Kumho Majesty 9 Solus TA93, an asymmetric tread summer tyre it adapted specifically for the Chinese market.
Continental has been recognised for its bicycle tyres manufactured with dandelion rubber with a brace of design awards. The Urban Taraxagum has won the prestigious Red Dot Design award, and the E-Bike Design & Innovation Award in the Sustainability & Green category by Focus E-Bike magazine. The two awards recognised different aspects of the tyre. The Red Dot Award lauded the design of the tread of the tyre, based on the cell shape of the dandelion. Meanwhile Focus E-Bike commended the sustainability of rubber extraction from dandelions.
A trio of Hankook tyres are recipients of the Red Dot Award 2020 for product design. Hankook Tire shares that the Red Dot Award judges singled out the Hankook i*pike RS2, Hankook Dynapro AT2, and Hankook Dynapro MT2 for this honour.
The best designers and manufacturers of the year were recognised on 3 July at the Red Dot Gala 2017 event in Essen, Germany, and amongst the products selected by the 9-strong Red Dot judging panel were five tyres; these gained ‘Red Dot’ awards in Product Design. The awarded tyres are the Continental PremiumContact 6, Federal 595RS-RR, Laufenn I FIT, Kumho Crugen HP71 and Nexen N’Fera RU1.
Kumho’s Smasher and Sealant tyres have been honoured with 2016 International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA). The company said that the US awards, which complete a trio of the world’s top three design accolades, alongside Germany’s Red Dot and iF International Forum Design, mean that its design and technological capabilities have now been recognised by the industry as a whole.
Hankook Tire has commented on the naming of its DynaSYNC concept tyre as a Red Dot Design Award 2016 winner. Company chairman and chief executive officer Seung Hwa Suh describes the Red Dot recognition as a “great honour” for Hankook. “Receiving the award solidifies Hankook Tire’s commitment and determination to lead future driving through progressive innovation and creative design. Hankook Tire will continue to contribute to advancement in driving with aspiration for innovative technology.”
A concept from Nexen Tire that allows motorists to simply replace their tyre’s tread rather than the entire tyre has been acknowledged at this year’s Red Dot Design Awards. The Green Hive tyre, which possesses a “rechargeable tread,” has been awarded in the ‘Design Concept’ award category.
The new Hankook SmartFlex AH35 all-season tyre was introduced at the Commercial Vehicle show in Birmingham earlier this year, and Hankook Tire reports that this European market steer axle fitment was recently the recipient of a Red Dot Design Award. An award was also picked up by its drive axle counterpart, the SmartFlex DH35. This tyre will be available on the market soon, notes Hankook Tire.
For the fifth consecutive year, Kumho Tire has been honoured with a Red Dot Design Award. Kumho’s winning entries within the product design category of this year’s awards were the K-Silent Tyre and Road Venture MT51.
The Conti Hybrid HT3 trailer tyre has landed a “Red Dot: Best of the Best” design award. The award, given in the product design category, pertains to the size 445/45 R 19.5 and 435/50 R 19.5 fitments; Continental says the Red Dot jury awarded the Conti Hybrid HT3 for its “incomparable design quality and groundbreaking construction.”
The Red Dot Design Award has been presented to the Semperit Runner D2 drive tyre in size 315/80 R22.5. An international jury deemed the technical quality of the tyre, including an improved tread and compact pattern, worthy of the accolade. The Runner D2 offers high mileage and low fuel consumption, Semperit states.
In 2015 the Red Dot Award celebrates its 60th anniversary, and during this ‘diamond jubilee’ year a 38-person jury awarded MAK Wheels’ Milano alloy wheel a Product Design 2015 award. The Italian wheel manufacturer says the award is proof of how much MAK “cares about the design and the quality of its products.”
Continental