Hankook Tire announced the company’s 2020 Q1 financial results, with consolidated global sales of KRW 1.4358 trillion and an operating profit of KRW 105.9 billion. 

The company’s earnings have declined due to a sharp drop in tire demand, caused by the worldwide economic slowdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 has had a large overall impact on major global markets, including a decrease in demand for original equipment tires and replacement tires.

This effect has extended to global production facilities, who have had to considerably adjust their operations in response.

High-inch tires

On the other hand, despite the aftermath of COVID-19, high-inch tires of 18 inches or more accounted for 33.7% of the sales of tires for passenger cars, up 2.7%p YoY. The stable growth of high-inch tires in major markets such as South Korea, North America and China is due to Hankook’s top tier technology and quality and has served to promote Hankook’s premium brand image.

Moving forward, Hankook plans to further solidify its standing as a premium brand by increasing sales of high-inch tires in major markets, supplying OE tires for premium cars and strengthening product competitiveness.

This increase will serve as a bridge for gradual sales improvement, achieved by optimizing distribution strategies for each region overseas, including a diversified product portfolio and continuous expansion of sales channels based on global production and distribution networks, to help the company overcome the difficult market environment.

Q1 2020 Consolidated Financial Result