J.D. Power and Associates has ranked Hankook Tire fifth in the mass market/non-luxury segment of its "2007 OE Tire Customer Satisfaction Study." The company attributes its success to its increasing focus on quality service and production, and the consistent investment of approximately 5 percent of its annual revenue into R&D. Hankook Tire scored 810 out of 1,000 points in the study, outperforming Bridgestone, Dunlop, Yokohama and Continental. The study measures overall customer satisfaction with original equipment tires by examining five key factors: wearability, appearance, traction/grip, ride and handling. Rankings are based on owner experiences with their during the first year of ownership. Hankook Tire jumped its rank for the third consecutive year; climbing from tenth in 2004 to eighth in 2005, sixth in 2006 and fifth this year. "We consistently invest in development and testing to provide consumers with superior quality and high performance tires, by using advancing technologies and research to tailor region-specific, OE model-specific and need-specific products," says Mr. Seung Hwa Suh, the CEO of Hankook Tire. "This result is a great endorsement and ratification of our business strategies, and future investments in technology will sustain our reputation for producing tires that are at least on a par with top tier tire makers." The tire manufacturer rose to become the world's seventh largest tire manufacturer based on 2006 sales with US$3 billion in 2006, recording the joint highest of 20 percent growth rate out of all 11 global tire manufacturers listed. To continue the momentum, Hankook Tire is investing in R&D for further product innovation, marketing and increased production capacity, including a €500 million European production facility in Hungary that started its production in June. For more information about Hankook Tire, visit the company's Web site. |
