Hankook to Invest in Retreading Says Heywood

Guy Heywood

Hankook Tyre is looking to invest significantly in its retreading activities as it looks to increase its share of the European TBR market. This was revealed by the Korean manufacturer’s newly appointed European Truck Tyre Marketing Director Guy Heywood during the recent Commercial Vehicle Show held in Birmingham, UK.

New Marketing Director Lays Out Retread Strategy

Says Heywood; “Hankook can currently claim 11% of the European market for new truck and bus radials, and that is a remarkable achievement, but we believe the opportunity is there for us to double or triple our volumes. To do so, however, requires that we have a good retread offer for success in the fleet business. There is clearly a significant opportunity for us in the retread market, and we aim to achieve a good share in this sector within the next 2-3 years.”

According to Heywood, Hankook will be expanding its Alphatread range of retreads, which uses Hankook casings by adding new compounds and tread designs. The company also plans to use the recently acquired German retreader Reifen Mueller to help it achieve the increase in retread sales.

“We will also be looking to add more services within the retread arena,” said Heywood. “In addition, though, new technologies will be a key area of our focus in the coming years, as it will for all manufacturers. Areas such as the development of tyres for electric vehicles, the move by tyre manufacturers into mobility integration and the implementation of technologies such as RFID, will provide both a change and a challenge for the retreading industry, but will invest in these areas, as we believe retreading will be of key importance in the future,” he concluded.

About the author

David is the Owner and Publisher of Retreading Business. With over 30 years' experience as a specialist tyre industry journalist, he first entered the tyre industry in 1987 as Editor of Tyres & Accessories. He was Editor of Tyre Trade News between 1993-96 before establishing Retreading Business in 1997. In 2004 he acquired the Malaysian tyre magazine The Tyreman, before establishing Tyre & Rubber Recycling in 2009. In addition to his publishing ventures, he was also Director of the Retread Manufacturers' Association between 2004 and 2014.

Email: david.wilson@retreadingbusiness.com

Phone: (44) 1270 668 718

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