Hankook Tire Attends the 2026 Red Dot Design Award Ceremony for Design Concept

- 2026 Red Dot Design Award ceremony for Design Concept held at the Capitol Theatre in Singapore on October 15
- Celebrates two Best of the Best honors for i-Flex Gen 2 and Medi Buddy, highlighting achievements in mobility innovation
- Demonstrates global design capabilities through continued recognition at major international design awards, including Red Dot, iF and IDEA

Seoul, Korea, October 16, 2026 — A leading global tire company Hankook Tire & Technology (Hankook Tire) celebrated its two Best of the Best honors at the Red Dot Award 2026 ceremony for Design Concept, held at the Capitol Theatre Singapore on October 15 (local time).

Hankook Tire received two Best of the Best and four Winner awards in the Design Concept category at the Red Dot Award 2026, with the winners announced in August. Hankook Tire employees involved in designing the two Best of the Best award-winning concepts — i-Flex Gen 2, an airless concept tire, and Medi Buddy, a futuristic medical mobility design — attended the ceremony to celebrate their achievements.

i-Flex Gen 2 is a next-generation airless concept tire optimized for future electric vehicles and autonomous driving environments. Evolved through continuous research and development since the first-generation i-Flex was unveiled in 2015, the design features an industry-first circumferential spoke structure designed to enhance its aesthetic appeal while improving low-noise performance and driving stability.

Medi Buddy is a futuristic medical mobility concept developed through an industry-academic collaboration with Korea Design Membership Plus (KDM+), a university student talent development program run by the Korea Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP). Developed under the theme of ‘Mobile AI 2030,’ the concept integrates autonomous driving and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies into an interactive smart IV system designed to engage with hospitalized children, ease their fear of hospitals and provide emotional comfort.

The award-winning concepts, including the two Best of the Best winners, will be featured in a special exhibition at the Red Dot Design Museum Singapore.

The Red Dot Design Award is one of the world’s three major design awards, alongside Germany’s iF Design Award and the U.S.-based International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA). Each year, winners are selected across three categories: Product Design, Brands & Communication Design, and Design Concept. Organized by Red Dot Singapore, the Design Concept category focuses on evaluating forward-looking ideas and innovation at the prototype stage.

Meanwhile, Hankook Tire became the first Korean company to receive the Red Dot Award’s Luminary honor in 2015, followed by the tire industry’s first iF Gold Award in 2016 and an IDEA Bronze Award in 2017, completing a sweep of the world’s three major design awards. Moving forward, Hankook Tire will continue to strengthen its global design competitiveness by advancing its vision for sustainable mobility through innovative design and technology.