The Korean carmaker has supplied original equipment (OE) tires to the Japanese carmaker’s models, such as the Civic sedan and the CR-V SUV. It added the Accord to its customer vehicles last month, Hankook Tire said in a statement. (Image: Hankook Tire)
SEOUL, Oct. 12 (Korea Bizwire) – Hankook Tire Manufacturing Co., the world’s seventh-biggest tiremaker by sales, said Thursday it has begun supplying high-performance tires to Honda Motor Co.’s Accord sedan.
The Korean carmaker has supplied original equipment (OE) tires to the Japanese carmaker’s models, such as the Civic sedan and the CR-V SUV. It added the Accord to its customer vehicles last month, Hankook Tire said in a statement.
To enhance its brand image in global markets, the tiremaker has shipped products to 45 foreign carmakers, such as Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porshe.
Supplying OE tires to car manufacturers does not make much money for tiremakers but securing luxury carmakers as clients helps improve their brand images and raise product prices down the line.
For tiremakers, it is more profitable to sell replacement equipment (RE) tires in after-sales markets.
Last year, Hankook Tire sold 99 million tires produced at its eight plants — two in South Korea, three in China, one in Hungary, one in Indonesia and one in the United States.
Hankook Tire earns 30 percent of its total sales from OE tire sales, with the remaining 70 percent coming from RE tire sales.
(Yonhap)
