At present, the global automotive industry is undergoing a deep transformation towards electrification, lightweighting, and low carbonization. Tires, as the only parts of vehicles that come into contact with the ground, have become the core competitive mainline of the industry through technological iteration and brand upgrading. As one of the world's leading tire brands, Hankook Tire is based on the changing demands of the global travel market and continues to consolidate its comprehensive competitiveness in the three major markets of original parts, after-sales replacement, and professional racing.
Hankook tires have completed a refined upgrade of the civilian tire product matrix to meet the iterative requirements of vehicle performance. With the popularity of household SUVs and mid to large high-end fuel vehicles, users' demand for tire wet grip, quiet comfort, durability and wear resistance continues to increase. Hankook relies on years of road driving databases, optimizes the molecular ratio of composite rubber and tread pattern structure, and launches an SUV specific tire series that is suitable for all season road conditions. The product balances the noise reduction performance of urban paved roads with the passability of unpaved roads, while optimizing the tire support structure to balance high-speed driving stability and driving comfort, filling the product gap in the mid to high end household vehicle segment market.
Seizing the wave of car electrification, Hankook tires rely on their exclusive product line to seize the new energy travel trend. Different from traditional fuel tires, new energy vehicles have a larger weight, higher instantaneous torque, and more obvious tire noise perception, which puts forward new requirements for the three major indicators of tire load-bearing, noise reduction, and rolling resistance. Hankook has made early arrangements for the specialized research and development of new energy tires, creating the world's earliest iON series of electric vehicle tires that achieve full category coverage. The R&D team has refined the design of tire sidewall rigidity, contact area, and pattern layout, effectively reducing rolling resistance and helping vehicles optimize their travel performance.
Implementing the global consensus on carbon neutrality, Hankook Tire accelerates the implementation of tire circular economy. Recently, the brand officially participated in the national level sustainable tire manufacturing special research and development project. At the same time, relying on its official partnership with the International Automobile Federation, the brand has implemented low-carbon tire technology in various automobile races, verified the safety and stability of recycled material tires through special road conditions, and achieved rapid transformation of race technology into civilian products.
At the level of global brand operation, Hankook Tire adopts a dual strategy of deep technological cultivation and sports marketing. On the one hand, we will continue to expand our production bases in the core regions of Europe and America, improve our localized supply chain system, align with the trend of large-size tire popularity in overseas markets, and optimize the regional product placement structure; On the other hand, we will collaborate with various sports IPs to carry out global brand promotion, relying on sports scenes to deliver secure and high-performance brand cores, and complete the deep transformation of global brands.
Industry analysts say that in the post incremental automotive era, competition in the tire industry has shifted from price competition to comprehensive competition in technology, low-carbon, and branding. In the future, Hankook tires will continue to focus on the demand for integrated human vehicle transportation, connecting the entire chain of event research and development, civilian production, and recycling, and continuously releasing brand vitality in the global wave of transportation transformation.