Our History

As part of the 80th Anniversary of our founding in 2021 we started building production facilities in Chongqing, China, and Bekasi, Indonesia, greatly strengthening our capacity for growth. In addition, Hankook was named the official tire supplier for Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) in Germany, one of the world’s top three touring car competitions, and began the groundwork for yet another research center with technologically advanced equipment in 2014.

For the future our aim is to reinforce our global competitiveness by strategically investing in a skilled labour force to expand R&D. Fostering creative and competitive personnel is also a goal at Hankook as we strive to continuously do our part as a member of the global community and grow in tandem with the world.

We are proud of our 80-year-long history and are paving the way for the future with a commitment to create new possibilities and overcome challenges that lie ahead. With our customers and society always in mind, our aim is to contribute to the development of the driving experience worldwide.

In the first decade of the 21^st century the popularity of automobiles grew rapidly in emerging markets, creating an immediate increase in tire demand. In line with this global trend we expanded our global production and distribution networks and began to focus on building brand value. To firmly establish our position in Europe, we built a distribution center there in 2001 and a new tire production plant in Hungary in 2006, which was considered the most technologically advanced facility in the world at that time.

As part of our corporate branding strategy in 2004 Hankook created the brand slogan “Driving Emotion”.  This shows our commitment and confidence in providing drivers around the world with the best “Driving Emotion” experience beyond simple mobility, one that is based on world-class technology and a global network.

As part of the process of creating a global brand Hankook has also participated in major global and overseas motorsports competitions to build a unified corporate image and establish a global brand system. We have also improved our brand status by strengthening our global marketing and sports sponsorship, and have formed automotive partnerships with top European car companies such as Audi.

In the 1990’s Hankook continued our strategy to invest in infrastructure and expand production capacity. By strengthening our technical skills and developing a competitive edge based on efficient production processes, we succeeded in entering the overseas original equipment (OE) tire market where advanced tire technology and excellent quality are mandatory. In 1991, we signed our first contract with Volkswagen to supply OE tires.

We also established technology research centers in key overseas regions to increase technological capacity and supply products efficiently to each region. Centers were established in the United States in 1992, Germany in 1997 and China in 1998 to acquire a competitive edge in global markets.

To stay one step ahead of our competitors Hankook analysed growth potential and market size by region and focused our growth strategy on the Chinese market where we built tire facilities in Jiaxing and Jiangsu to set up a strong production base.

Hankook has always been at the forefront in the history of tire innovation. We predicted that radial tires would become popular as the economy developed and sped up the research, development, and production of radial tire one step ahead of the competition. The Daejeon facility, which specialises in the production of radial tires, was built in 1979 as part of Hankook’s strategic investment in the future. Compared to bias tires, radial tires have a longer lifespan, are more efficient and have been widely used in Europe since the 1960’s.

In the 1980s, Hankook increased the supply of radial tires through our Daejeon plant to expand exports to the United States and Europe. We promoted an economy of scale strategy and through increased efficiency the annual production capacity of the our Daejeon facility became one of the largest in the world. As globalisation became more consolidated, trade barriers were lowered and a distribution system was developed.  This allowed our strategy to take room, leading to a significantly reduced transportation cost.

As a result, Hankook’s production capacity and sales grew, which achieved global status. After establishing our technological research center in Daejeon in 1982, we built a system to strengthen our high-tech capability and the world-class quality of our tires was recognized in advanced automotive markets such as the United States and Europe.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the Korean economy rapidly developed in paralll with the manufacturing industry as its growth engine. As Korea miraculously progressed so did Hankook through sound business principles and a thirst for technological skills which enabled us to gain a competitive edge in product quality.

With two of Korea’s major highway projects completed the era of the automobile began and Hankook was right there leading the advancement in transportation. Directly in line with Korean Government policy initiatives for development we placed a high priority on technological investment and quality management, and were the first to develop winter, tubeless, and radial tires for passenger cars in Korea.

As the quality of Hankook grew on a global scale Hankook made significant strides in exporting tires to neighboring countries throughout Asia.

Founded in 1941 as the Chosun Tire Company, the first automobile tire company in Korea, Hankook forged a vision during an era when the seeds of early industrialisation were being sown in a country that lacked the wherewithal to grow successfully.

Even with facilities and supplies lacking until the end of the Korean War, it did not dampen our enthusiasm to produce quality tires and technology. Taking pride in developing Korea’s tire industry, the Hankook team recovered from the war by working hard across all facets of the business to lay the foundation for what the company is today.

With a mindset for industry and technological advancement, Hankook was able to establish itself as a cornerstone of Korea’s industrial progress.