Hankook Tire announced its Q1 2024 consolidated financial results, reporting revenue of 2.1272 trillion won and an operating profit of 398.7 billion won. Compared to the same period last year, revenue increased by 1.1%, and operating profit soared by 108.8%.
Despite the ongoing global economic slowdown exacerbated by the crisis in the Middle East, Hankook Tire sustained its growth momentum through proactive research and development (R&D) investments led by Chairman Cho Hyun-bum, forecasting the future mobility market, and by expanding its sales of high-value-added products based on a strategy focused on electric vehicle-specific tires and high-performance vehicles.
Since before the commercialization of electric vehicles, the company has dedicated itself to developing core technologies targeting high-performance premium electric vehicles, leading the global market for electric vehicle-specific tires. The world’s first full lineup electric vehicle tire brand, ‘iON’, has diversified its portfolio steadily, offering 202 specifications ranging from 16 to 22 inches. In March, it proved superior performance over comparable products from top-tier global brands in a comparative test conducted by TÜV SÜD, a global testing and certification body.
This year, Hankook aims to increase the supply proportion of electric vehicle tires to about 25% in the new tire supply for passenger cars and light truck tires (PCLT). The company has been supplying new tires to prestigious electric vehicle models from global automotive brands, including the Porsche ‘Taycan’, Audi ‘e-tron GT’, ‘Q4 e-tron’, BMW ‘i4’, Volkswagen ‘ID.4’, Hyundai ‘Ioniq 6’, Tesla ‘Model Y’, and ‘Model 3’, and is steadily increasing its supply primarily for premium electric vehicle models.
The share of high-inch passenger car tires (18 inches and above) in the revenue from passenger car and light truck tires stood at 46.8%, reflecting a growth rate of 3.3 percentage points compared to the same period last year. By region, the sales share of high-inch passenger car tires was highest in China at 62.5%, followed by Korea at 56.5%, North America at 56.4%, and Europe at 37.4%.
As a global leading tire company, Hankook Tire has solidified its competitive edge in technology by satisfying the tire performance requirements of high-performance vehicles and global premium brands. Currently, it supplies new tires to approximately 250 models from about 40 global automotive brands, including Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, and Tesla.
The company is imprinting its global top-level electric vehicle tire technology and premium brand image in the minds of consumers worldwide. Since last year, it has been the exclusive supplier of racing tires as well as an official partner for the FIA Formula E World Championship, the world’s top electric vehicle racing event. Using the data acquired through this partnership, the company is focused on developing electric vehicle-specific tire technology and improving performance.
In addition, prices of raw materials such as synthetic rubber and carbon black, along with shipping costs, have remained stable and supported the company’s stable performance flow.
Meanwhile, in Q1 of this year, the operating profit of the company’s local factories (Daejeon and Geumsan) slightly improved as labor relations stabilized. However, the Daejeon plant still requires improvements in profitability.
Lee Sang-jin daedusj@autodiary.kr