Improving Premium Image
Hankook Tire Co. announced on Feb. 8 that it posted 6.81 trillion won (US$6.21 billion) in sales and 793.7 billion won (US$723.85 million) in operating profits last year.
Its sales grew 2.9 percent from a year earlier but its operating profits fell 28 percent on an increase in prices of rubber and other raw materials. Hankook Tire said its sales rose largely due to the growth in sales of tires that are larger than 17 inches and sales in balance by region.
Its sales of tires larger than 17 inches increased 3.9 percent points on-year in 2017, accounting for 48.4 percent of the total sales. In particular, the company saw its supplies of original equipment tire (OET) go up and its sales of replacement tire (RET) continuously climb in the European and Chinese markets.
Hankook Tire expects to achieve an operating profit of 1.02 trillion won (US$932.02 million) and sales of 7.4 trillion won (US$6.76 billion) this year. To this end, the world's seventh-biggest tiremaker by sales are planning to expand sales of tires larger than 17 inches further and focus on improving its premium image by increasing exports of high-performance OET products in major markets.