Magazine for the professional tire industry
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59 www.moderntiredealer.com almost every auto manufacturer. Hankook is supplying OE tires to 39 car makers on 295 models, including the flagship models of premium brands like Mercedes- Benz, BMW, and Audi. By 2020 it expects to supply OE tires to super cars, such as Lamborghini and Ferrari, and the company is developing tires for hybrid and electric vehicles, too, Woo said. Those f itments are depen- dent on what is produced in the Technodome, the company's central R&D; center. And the work there will feed into Hankook's four other R&D; centers around the world, in Germany, China, Japan, and the U.S. By 2020, the Technodome will house 1,000 specialized researchers. At the grand opening event in late October, the $262 million space housed 750 employees. "We are going to be the global leaders in the global market," said Suh. ■ With some sound-proofed laboratories on site, Hankook scientists can focus on the details of tire noise. Hankook expects the look of its Technodome to inspire its scientists to develop one-of-a-kind tire technology. The design also is meant to foster connections and communication between departments and laboratories. What comes next for Hankook? A day after unveiling its new R&D; Center in Daejeon, Korea, Hankook Tire Co. Ltd. made clear its next focus. "Internally, we need to expand more in TBR and LTR," said Seung Bin Lim, vice president of the company's global marketing strategy division. In 2015, truck and bus tires and light truck tires accounted for 10% of Hankook's $6 billion in sales, compared to the 89% of sales attributed to passenger tires. Adding more truck tires to the portfolio would lead to the need for more production. In 2012 Hankook had the capacity to build 89.3 million tires, and in 2016 it's 103 million tires. By 2020 the company forecasts its capacity will reach 135 million tires — an increase of 31% in four years. Some of that expansion will come from the company's cur- rently under-construction passenger tire plant in Tennessee. Phase one will be complete in April 2017, with capacity of 5.5 million tires each year. The second phase of construc- tion will double production, and will "effectively meet the demands of the North American market," the company says. What remains unknown is whether Hankook truck tires could one day be manufactured in Tennessee. Two weeks after the Technodome opening in Korea, Modern Tire Dealer asked that question of Jae Bum Park, the senior vice presi- dent of marketing for Hankook Tire America Corp. during a meeting at the 2016 Specialty Equipment Market Associa- tion (SEMA) Show. Park said, "It is not decided yet. After we complete the second phase of construction, then we'll make a decision. The first two (phases) are definitely passenger." In the meantime Hankook has identified five regions as potential locations for future production sites: Mexico, Brazil, the Middle East, Russia, and Eastern Europe. Company of- ficials didn't provide a timetable for when they will make a decision, but Lim said some of those sites would be used to bump up truck tire production. Seung Bin Lim says Hankook's next focus is expanding its portfolio of truck tires. The company's U.S. subsidiary has doubled its commercial sales force in the last two years.