Hankook Tire Co., Ltd. Business Report FY ended Dec. 2014
Highlights in FY2014 (ended Dec. 2014)
Financial Overview (Consolidated) |
(in millions of won) |
| FY ended Dec. 31, 2014 | FY ended Dec. 31, 2013 | Rate of change (%) |
Remarks | |
| Sales | 6,680,847 | 7,069,237 | (5.5) | -Although sales decreased due to the weaker won and other factors, the impact on profit was offset by some positive factors such as greater sales of ultra high-performance tires and increased sales of OE tires to luxury vehicle manufacturers. |
| Operating income | 1,031,636 | 1,031,006 | 0.1 | |
| Net income | 699,295 | 735,031 | (4.9) | - |
Contracts
Ford
-The Company announced that it will supply its Ventus S1 Noble2 tire for the 2015 model-year Ford Mustang. The tire size will be 235/55R17H. (From a press release on February 10, 2015)
-The Company announced that it will supply its Dynapro HT tires for the 2015 model of Ford’s Lincoln Navigator SUV. Hankook Tire has already been supplying its tires for the Lincoln MKT and MKZ sedans, but this is the first time that it provides tires for a Lincoln SUV. (From a press release on October 8, 2014)
Daimler
-The Company will supply two types of tires for Daimler's Mercedes-Benz V Class minivans. The two tires are the Ventus Prime 2 225/55R17 and the Vantra LT 205/65R16, which will be produced at Hankook Tire's plant in Hungary. (From a press release on December 22, 2014)
-The Company will supply original equipment tires for Daimler's Mercedes-Benz Atego commercial truck. It will deliver two types of tires: A11H and DH05+. This is the first time that Hankook's tires have been chosen for Mercedes-Benz trucks. (From a press release on November 13, 2014)
-The Company will supply Ventus S1 evo2 tires as original equipment for Daimler's Mercedes-Benz C-Class. The tire size will be 225/50R17W. The company will supply normal tires and run-flat tires produced at its plant in Hungary. (From a press release on July 15, 2014)
Audi
-The Company announced that it will supply its Ventus S1 evo2 tires for Audi’s TT and TTS. The tire size will be 225/50R17, 245/45R17, and 245/35R19. These tires will be produced at Hankook’s plant in Hungary. (From a press release on November 28, 2014)
MAN
-The Company announced that it will supply its tires to MAN Truck & Bus AG, starting in 2015. Hankook's e-cube MAX, SmartFlex, and SmartWork tires will be fitted as original equipment on MAN's TGX, TGM, and the TGS series. These vehicles will be assembled at MAN's plants in Germany, Austria, and Poland. (From a press release on September 23, 2014)
BMW
-The Company will supply its tires as original equipment for BMW MINI series, including the One, One D, Cooper, Cooper D and Cooper S. The tires will be produced at the company's plant in Hungary. (From a press release on July 15, 2014)
-The Companyy said its Ventus S1 evo2 flagship tires have been selected as original equipment for the BMW 4-Series Coupe. The tire size will be 225/50R17W. The 4-Series Coupe has become the sixth model by the BMW Group to be fitted with Hankook tires, following the BMW 1-, 3-, and 5-Series, the X5 and the MINI. (From a press release on April 1, 2014)
Acquisitions
-Visteon Corporation announced that it has entered into an agreement to sell its approximately 70 percent ownership interest in Halla Visteon Climate Control Corp. (HVCC) to an affiliate of Hahn & Company – a South Korea-based private equity company – and Hankook Tire Co. Ltd. for approximately USD 3.6 billion. The transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of 2015. (From a press release on December 17, 2014)
Business Partnership
-The Company and Dassault Systemes S.A., a France-based software manufacturer, have signed a memorandum of understanding to form a strategic partnership. Dassault Systems produces and sells 3D design software and product lifecycle management solutions. Hankook Tire expects the new collaboration will allow the company to test the performance of its products from the early stage of the development process by applying Dassault's standard three-dimensional simulation program. The company hopes to minimize development time and improve test accuracy by capitalizing on the technology. (From a press release on March 21, 2014)
Award
-The Company has received Excellence Award from Honda Motor Co., Ltd. The award was given for high technology and excellent quality of Hankook's tires, which are used as original equipment on the North American Honda Civic. Hankook Tire and Bridgestone Corporation were the only tire suppliers that were chosen from Honda's approximately 650 suppliers. (From a press release on June 3, 2014)
R&D
R&D Structure
| Facility | Location |
| Main R&D Center | Daejeon, Korea |
| Akron Technical Center | Ohio, USA |
| China Technical Center (CTC) | Jiaxing, Zheziang Province, China |
| Europe Technical Center (ETC) | Hannover, Germany |
| Japan Technical Liaison office (JTC) | Osaka, Japan |
-The Company announced that it has broken ground for new R&D facilities. The new facilities include the Hankook Technodome in Daejeon City and the Hankook Tire Test Engineering Center in Sangju City. The company will invest KRW 266 billion in the Technodome alone, which is expected to be completed in 2016. The Hankook Tire Test Engineering Center is planned to be completed by 2018. (From news releases issued by multiple sources on June 16, 2014)
R&D Expenditure |
(in millions of won) |
| FY ended Dec. 31, 2014 | FY ended Dec. 31, 2013 | FY ended Dec. 31, 2012 | |
| Amount | 155,294 | 123,936 | 47,558 |
| % of sales | 2.3 | 1.8% | 2.1% |
Technological Alliance
-The Company signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with IDIADA Automotive Technology, a Spanish company that specializes in automotive design, engineering and testing, on a joint research and testing on tire performance. Hankook will build a technical office within IDIADA's facility in Spain. The technical office will perform R&D activities by collaborating with Hankook Tire's Europe Technical Center (ETC). (From a press release on August 8, 2014)-The Company signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the formation of a strategic technological partnership with LANXESS, a Germany-based specialty chemicals group. Under the agreement, the two companies will collaborate on developing synthetic rubber for high-performance tires from the early stage of product development. (From a press release on February 27, 2014)
R&D Activities
-The Company announced that its Ventus S1 noble2 tires will be used as original equipment tires on new vehicles. These tires feature Hankook Sound Absorber, a technology to absorb resonant noise with the polyurethane pads arranged inside the tires. Hankook is working on further development in order to supply the Ventus S1 noble2 tires for premium brand cars produced by foreign automakers. (From a press release on November 3, 2014)Investment Activities
Capital Expenditure (FY ended Dec. 31, 2014)
|
(in millions of won) |
| Planned amount of investment | Amount invested | ||
| Korea | New facilities and equipment | 110,584 | 74,675 |
| Maintenance and repair | 215,238 | 160,571 | |
| China | New facilities and equipment | 291,194 | 133,083 |
| Maintenance and repair | 92,948 | 87,399 | |
| Hungary | New facilities and equipment | 334,557 | 327,370 |
| Maintenance and repair | 15,729 | 10,579 | |
| Indonesia | New facilities and equipment | 204,539 | 134,379 |
| Maintenance and repair | 3,786 | 2,603 | |
| USA | New facilities and equipment | 76,914 | 37,373 |
| Maintenance and repair | - | - | |
| Total | 1,345,489 | 968,032 | |
Investment Projects
<USA>
-The Comapny has held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new plant in Clarksville, Tennessee. The company will invest approximately USD 800 million in this plant, which is scheduled to be completed by 2016. The plant is expected to be able to produce 11 million tires per year. The Tennessee factory will serve as Hankook Tire’s eighth tire plant outside Korea. (From a press release on October 10, 2014)
<Indonesia>
-PT. Hankook Tire Indonesia, an Indonesian unit of the Company , announced that it will invest USD 357 million (KRW 380.1 billion) to expand its plant. The expansion project is scheduled to begin in January 2014 and end in December 2015. It is expected that the facility will be able to produce 16,900 tires for passenger vehicles and small trucks per day after the expansion. (From a press release on January 17, 2014)