Hankook Tire & Technology Co., Ltd. (), also known simply as Hankook ( , ), is a South Korean tire company based in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

. It is the seventh-largest

tire A tire (North American English) or tyre (Commonwealth English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a Rim (wheel), wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide Traction (engineeri ...

company in the world. It is a part of Hankook & Company.

History

Hankook Tire was established in 1941 as "Chosun Tire Company"() and was renamed to "Hankook Tire Manufacturing" in 1968. ''

Hankook Hankook Tire & Technology Co., Ltd. (), also known simply as Hankook ( , ), is a South Korean tire company based in Seoul. It is the seventh-largest tire company in the world. It is a part of Hankook & Company. History Hankook Tire was establis ...

'' literally means "Korea". ''

Chosun Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

'' means ''beautiful morning''. The company now supplies tires as original equipment to various automakers. In addition to producing about 102 million tires annually, the company also sells batteries,

alloy wheel In the automotive industry, alloy wheels are wheels that are made from an alloy of aluminium or magnesium. Alloys are mixtures of a metal and other elements. They generally provide greater strength over pure metals, which are usually much soft ...

s, and

brake pad Brake pads are a component of disc brakes used in automotive and other applications. Brake pads are composed of steel backing plates with friction material bound to the surface that faces the disc brake rotors. Function Brake pads convert the ki ...

s. In 2011, Hankook Tire Co. announced that the company will invest $1.1 billion to build a factory in West Java, Indonesia as part of a plan to become the 5th largest tire manufacturer in the world. On June 9, 2011 a ground breaking ceremony was held at a 60-hectare area as a regional hub production for export to Asian, North America and Middle East countries. In October 2013, the company announced plans to open a new factory in Clarksville,

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

which was later opened in October 2017. In November 2014, the company announced the launch of its second brand, Laufenn. In January 2025, the company announced the launch of its sub-brand, Optimo, in Europe. The Optimo brand complements Hankook's existing premium and associate brands focused on passenger car tires.

Facts and figures

According to ''Modern Tire Dealer'', Hankook's new tire sales for 2007 were $3.5 billion, a 20.7% year-over-year increase from 2006 ($2.9 billion).

Global offices

The company has its headquarters in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

and has manufacturing facilities in

, the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It has technical centers in Daejon, Korea; Akron, Ohio; Hannover, Germany; Osaka, Japan; and China. In April 2016, the company announced it would move its North American headquarters from

Wayne, New Jersey Wayne is a Township (New Jersey), township in Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Home to William Paterson University and located less than from Midtown Manhattan, the township is a bedroom suburb of New ...

, to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. This move is reported to create up to 200 jobs in Davidson County and the company would be investing $5 million in the process.

Motorsports involvement

Hankook entered motorsports in Europe, North America, and in Asia. They signed with FBR (Farnbarcher Racing) to race a Ferrari F430 GT with Hankook Tires in the

2009 Le Mans Series season The 2009 Le Mans Series was the sixth season of Automobile Club de l'Ouest's Le Mans Series. It was contested over five events between 5 April and 13 September 2009. Aston Martin Racing trio Jan Charouz, Tomáš Enge and Stefan Mücke finished ev ...

. The company supplied tires for the

Primetime Race Group The Primetime Race Group is a privateer motorsport team from Hollywood, Florida which currently competes in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) and the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) Lites Series, a support series of the ALMS. The te ...

that raced in the GT2 class of the

American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le M ...

in 2008. It supplied tires from 2007 to 2009 for

IMSA Prototype Lites IMSA Prototype Challenge (formerly IMSA Prototype Lites) was a racing series featuring two classes of single-seat prototype cars racing simultaneously. The series was sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). Most races we ...

, a support series for the

. Since 2009, the Hankook Team Farnbacher has competed in the GT class of the

Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the ...

. It also supplies tires for the Hankook KTR team that races in the

Super GT Super GT (stylized as SUPER GT) is a sports car racing series that began in 1993. Launched as the , generally referred to as the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC), the series was renamed to Super GT in 2005. It is the top level of ...

and the

Asian Le Mans Series The Asian Le Mans Series (ALMS) is an Asian sports car racing endurance series created by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and based in Asia. It is the successor to the defunct Japan Le Mans Challenge which folded in 2007 after its second s ...

and for the

Formula 3 Euroseries The Formula 3 Euro Series was a European-based junior single seater formula for Formula Three chassis that was launched (in its current form) in 2003 as a merger of the French Formula Three Championship and German Formula Three Championship. The F ...

. In

rallying Rallying is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests (sometimes called "rally racing" in United States), navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed ...

, Hankook are the series sponsors of the

Scottish Rally Championship The Scottish Rally Championship is a rallying series run throughout Scotland over the course of a year, that comprises both gravel and closed surface rallies.http://www.scottishrallychampionship.co.uk/ SRC Homepage Points are awarded to the top ...

. Its tires have been used at the European-based

Intercontinental Rally Challenge The Intercontinental Rally Challenge was an Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA-sanctioned rallying series organised by SRW Events and Eurosport, Eurosport Events, and aimed to "give new opportunities to young or amateur rally drivers ...

as well. Hankook was the tire supplier of the

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, commonly abbreviated as the DTM, is a sports car racing series sanctioned by ADAC. The series is based in Germany, with rounds elsewhere in Europe. The series currently races a modified version of Group GT3 gra ...

from 2011 to 2020. Hankook sponsored

Formula Drift Formula DRIFT (also known as Formula D or FD) is an American drifting series, and was co-founded by Jim Liaw and Ryan Sage in 2003 as a sister company to Slipstream Global Marketing, the same partnership that introduced D1 Grand Prix to the ...

driver

Chris Forsberg Christopher Forsberg (born April 6, 1982), is an American Formula D driver from Doylestown, Pennsylvania. He competes in the Formula Drift series in his Nissan Z (Z34) for Forsberg Racing, where he is the owner and shop manager. NOS Energy Dri ...

, a three-time champion (with his most recent championship coming as recent as the 2016 season), until the 2018 season. Hankook was the official tire supllier for

Super Taikyu Super Taikyu (スーパー耐久, ''Super Endurance''), formerly known as the Super N1 Taikyu Series prior to 2005 and N1 Endurance Series prior to 1995, and currently named the Eneos Super Taikyu Series Empowered by Bridgestone for sponsorship ...

championship series that held in Japan from 2021 until 2023. Due the fire severely damaged Hankook's

Daejeon Daejeon (; ) is South Korea's list of cities in South Korea, fifth-largest metropolis, with a population of nearly 1.5 million. Located in a central lowland valley between the Sobaek Mountains and the Geum River, the city is known both as a ...

plant in 2023, the company withdrawn its supplying contract for the Super Taikyu series. As the result, Bridgestone took over Hankook's position in Super Taikyu on 24 April 2023 and effective immediately, as initially announced to start the contract for the 2024 season. Hankook replaced

Michelin Michelin ( , ), in full ("General Company of the Michelin Enterprises P.L.S."), is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes '' région'' of France. It is the second largest t ...

as the official tire supplier for

Formula E Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is an open-wheel single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The racing series is the highest class of competition for electrically powered single-seater racing cars ...

for its third-generation car starting from the 2022–23 season. Starting in 2025, Hankook will be the tire supplier for the

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is an international rallying series owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the oldest FIA world championship after Formula One. E ...

, replacing

Pirelli Pirelli & C. S.p.A. is an Italian multinational tyre manufacturer based in the city of Milan, Italy. The company, which has been listed on the Borsa Italiana since 1922, is the 5th-largest tyre manufacturer, and is focused on the consumer pro ...

Sponsorships

Hankook sponsors

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

club

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

club

AS Monaco FC Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club, commonly referred to as AS Monaco (), is a professional association football, football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco, Fontvieille, Monaco. Although not in France, they are a member of the Frenc ...

, and

NIFL Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and Irish Premiership colloquially, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northern Ireland Football L ...

club

Carrick Rangers Carrick Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional Northern Irish football club playing in NIFL Premiership. The club, founded in 1939, hails from Carrickfergus, County Antrim and plays its home matches at Taylors Avenue which is known as th ...

. Hankook was once the major sponsor of the

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons or colloquially the Dees, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

. Hankook sponsors the English rugby union team

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The club plays in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby union. It was formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. ...

. Hankook sponsors the New Zealand Super Rugby team the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

. Hankook is one of the sponsors of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

since 2012. In 2021, Hankook's partnership with UEFA was renewed and will include sponsoring the new

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

through the Laufenn brand. Hankook is also involved in drifting sponsorship in a number of countries, most notably in North America in the

Formula D Formula DRIFT (also known as Formula D or FD) is an American drifting series, and was co-founded by Jim Liaw and Ryan Sage in 2003 as a sister company to Slipstream Global Marketing, the same partnership that introduced D1 Grand Prix to the ...

championship and in Ireland in th
Prodrift
championship. Hankook is the official tire supplier of the reality TV series '' Car Warriors''. From 2017 to 2022, Hankook was one of the major sponsors of the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; ) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs based in Russia (20), Belarus (1), Kazakhstan (1), and China (1) for a total of 23 clubs. It was considered in ...

. Hankook is also involved with simracing, as the main sponsor for

Liga ZGT Liga (Spanish and Portuguese: ''League'') or LIGA may refer to: Sports Basketball * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Liga Femenina de Baloncesto, women's professional basketball league in Spain Football Latin Ameri ...

and ApexGT e-Sports, brazilians Gran Turismo Sport Simracing League. Since 2018, Hankook has been the official tire of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

and sponsored the 2020 MLB Wild Card Series. Since 2019, Hankook is the main sponsor of SVRT, a ''

Gran Turismo Sport ''Gran Turismo Sport'' is a 2017 sim racing video game developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. It is the twelfth game in the ''Gran Turismo (series), Gran Turismo'' series. One of ''G ...

sim racing Sim racing is the collective term for racing games that attempt to accurately simulate auto racing, complete with real-world variables such as fuel usage, damage, tire wear and grip, and suspension settings. To be competitive in sim racing, a dr ...

team. In 2021 Hankook will be sponsoring the 3DBotMaker Diecast Racing League on YouTube.

Awards

Traditionally, Hankook has applied for international product design competitions. The received awards are widely used in the company's marketing activities, for example, at specialized exhibitions, during training seminars for dealers, in printed catalogs and advertising. Hankook received most of the awards from the German-based organizations

International Forum Design iF International Forum Design GmbH (iF) is a Hanover-based organization providing design-related services. Foundation International Forum Design was launched in 2001 as the operative business arm of design promotion company iF Industrie Forum De ...

and

Red Dot The Red Dot Design Award is an international, annual design competition for product and industrial design, brand and communication design as well as design concepts, in which the Red Dot quality label is awarded to winners. The Red Dot Design A ...

. Hankook also earned several awards for its concept tires. The latest ones are the Hexonic smart tire for autonomous car sharing and the futuristic Aeroflow racing tire for motorsport competition. In 2019, both tires won the US-based

International Design Excellence Awards The International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) is an award program previously co-sponsored by ''BusinessWeek'' magazine, and in 2010 ''Fast Company'' magazine and the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA). According to the IDSA, IDEA "i ...

(IDEA).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hankook Tire and Technology Tire manufacturers of South Korea Chemical companies of South Korea Auto parts suppliers of South Korea Automotive companies established in 1941 Companies listed on the Korea Exchange Companies in the KOSPI 200 Chaebol South Korean brands Manufacturing companies based in Seoul Multinational companies headquartered in South Korea 1941 establishments in Korea Manufacturing companies of South Korea Companies of Korea under Japanese rule