Where Are Hankook Tires Made?
Hankook has become one of the most popular tire brands in recent history because they continuously offer a wide range of high-quality tires for all types of vehicles, environments, and price groups. Nowadays, Hankook has become a supplier for Audi which means that Hankook tires can be seen even on Audi’s most exclusive and desirable cars.
The Hankook company is founded and based in Seoul, South Korea, and is firmly in the top 10 largest tire companies in the world. If you’ve ever wondered where are Hankook tires made, you’ve come to the right article as that is exactly the topic of today’s article.
Where Are Hankook Tires Made
Hankook has a few production facilities all around the world in order to better saturate each large market. Hankook tires are made in the United States, South Korea, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, China, and Hungary. As of 2022, Hankook owns and operates 11 different factories in these countries with more than 20,000 employees combined.
It is said that Hankook makes as much as 40% of all of its tires in South Korea and that the combined number of tires Hankook makes each year is upwards of 100 million.
Who Owns Hankook Tires?
The company behind the Hankook Tires brand is called Hankook Tire & Technology and is based in Seoul, South Korea. The main area of expertise is situated around tire manufacturing, but the company also has an extensive list of research & development and testing facilities all around the globe. Hankook operates various facilities across South Korea, the USA, Germany, Japan, Hungary, Slovakia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Mexico, Romania, Thailand, and Turkey.
Hankook is the tire distributor for various carmakers such as Audi, the Mercedes Benz S-Class, Ford, Lincoln, Chevrolet, and Toyota. Hankook company’s mission was to offer competitively priced tires that are driven by innovation, technology, and performance. The company has been on a roll for the past few decades and is firmly holding its grip in the top 10 largest tire companies in the world.
What Are The Most Popular Hankook Tires?
- Hankook Dynapro AT2
- Hankook Kinergy ST
- Hankook Dynapro HP2
- Hankook V2 Ventus concept2
- Hankook Ventus R-S4
Is The Hankook Dynapro AT2 a Good Tire?
The Hankook Dynapro AT2 tire is one of the most popular and most successful Hankook tires to ever come out. The AT2 is designed for pickup and SUV owners who want a tire that can do daily driving and occasional strolls off the pavement. The AT2 prides itself on being really durable as it resists chips and cuts on rough surfaces without breaking a sweat.
With a tri-ply construction, excellent dry traction, super ice, and snow capabilities, and a silent and economical highway ride, the AT2 truly is one of Hankook’s greatest hits.
Is The Hankook Kinergy ST a Good Tire?
The Hankook Kinergy ST is a well-optimized daily driver tire that can deliver a consistent experience no matter the environment. The Kinergy ST is designed for all sorts of passenger cars which means that it leans towards non-utility use. It offers excellent aquaplaning resistance, is relatively affordable, and is a great performing tire in the dry.
As far as mid-range tires go, you really can’t find many that are able to offer such as refined ride as this one, and that is why the Kinergy ST deserves its place on this list.
Is The Hankook Dynapro HP2 a Good Tire?
If you want a great SUV tire that can take care of all-season duties without struggling anywhere, the Hankook Dynapro HP2 is the one to get. With a smooth and endlessly reliable all-season performance, the HP2 has become one of the best all-season SUV/CUV tires for those on a budget. That is not to say that the HP2 can’t compete with many more expensive tires, but rather that it wipes the floor with most other tires in this price group.
Light snow is nothing for the HP2 while deep snow and ice might test its limits. Dry traction is excellent, and so are aquaplaning resistance and wet traction.
Is The Hankook V2 Ventus Concept2 a Good Tire?
The Hankook V2 Ventus Concept2 continues Hankook’s dominating presence in the budget tire section as it is often deemed as one of the best budget-performance tires out there. The V2 Ventus offers exceptional dry traction while wet traction is also really good across the board. The V2 can withstand large temperature fluctuations without losing its stiffness which is not all that common in this price bracket.
A V-shaped tread design prevents aquaplaning, but snow is not the environment for the V2 Ventus. That is rather to be expected as no other mid-range performance tire can withstand serious snow either.
Is The Hankook Ventus R-S4 a Good Tire?
While on the topic of great budget performance rubber, we also need to mention the Hankook Ventus R-S4 tire as it offers some of the best dry traction results out of all other tires in its class. Great response and lots of feedback through the steering wheel make the R-S4 a communicative tire, something all performance car enthusiasts love and cherish.
However, the R-S4 is not nearly as useful when it comes to wet traction because it has little to no aquaplaning resistance. That is what you get when you put all of your eggs in one basket.
How Long Do Hankook Tires Last?
It is rather difficult to give a straight answer to this question as Hankook offers a bunch of models, all of which are different and designed to excel in different areas. Moreover, many outside elements affect how long a tire can last such as your driving habits, the weather, road conditions, the car, and most importantly, tire maintenance.
This means that someone who drives on rougher roads in a heavier car is going to go through tires a lot faster than someone who drives a lighter car across finely paved roads. If you balance and rotate your tires and swap them seasonally, they are going to last much longer. All in all, you can make a massive difference when it comes to how long your tires can last, so be sure to click here to find out more.
Back to the original question, higher-end Hankook tires, if they are taken care of properly should last anywhere between 55,000 and 65,000 miles while more affordable purpose-made tires with questionable maintenance are likely to last half of that. It all depends on what you get and how you use it as even the best tires in the world are only as good as the driver that uses them.
Is Hankook A Premium Tire Brand?
A few years ago, Hankook was considered to be just a normal mid-range tire maker that does not try hard enough to earn its premium tire brand crown. However, the past few years have seen a shift in focus as Hankook is confidently coming out with ultra-performance tires and EV tires that seem to be defining the segment and thus are commonly mentioned in the same sentence as Michelin, Pirelli, Goodyear, and Bridgestone.
This means that Hankook is drifting towards the premium tire segment inch by inch, but the vast majority of Hankook tires are still set firmly in mid-level and budget segments. What we can say for certain is that Hankook offers great value as some of their tires mentioned above are able to compete with premium offerings, but cost only a fraction.
To conclude, Hankook is both a premium tire brand and a mid-level budget tire brand because Hankook has one of its legs in the premium segment while still balancing on its other leg which has been in the budget and mid-level segment for decades.
Which Hankook Tires Are Made In The USA?
We can’t find sufficiently dependable data about all the specific Hankook tire models manufactured in the USA except for the Kinergy PT. However, we can teach you to always know if a Hankook tire you are looking at has been made in the US. All you have to do is find the DOT alphanumerical code stamped onto the tire as the first three symbols refer to the factory in which the tire has been made.
If the tire code starts with the letters “OOT”, it means that the tire has been made in Hankook Tire Manufacturing assembly plant in Clarksville, Tennessee, USA. You can do this for literally every other tire you come across, just be sure to look for the first two or three letters in this Complete List of Tire DOT Plant Codes.
Verdict
Where are Hankook tires made? Hankook tires are being made in South Korea, the USA, Germany, Indonesia, Hungary, Japan, and China. These are the countries in which Hankook has set up its production facilities while Hankook’s presence can be felt across many more countries around the world.
Hankook as a company is making strides recently by joining up with some of the world’s most prominent brands which makes Hankook a prominent name in the tire industry. Even though many people out there don’t believe Hankook is a premium brand, they are going to become one soon if they continue at this pace.