Interview with Mr. Li Bingzhen, Minister of Regional Headquarters of Hankook Tire

In the future, Hankook Tire Global Center will be moved to China - Interview with Hantai Tire China Regional Headquarters Li Bingzhen Hankook Tire is a unique Korean tire company that has continued to strengthen in the Chinese market in recent years. In particular, since the launch of the high-end brand strategy in 2008 and the formulation of the company's mid- and long-term strategic goals in 2009, Hankook Tire has made breakthroughs in the global market and has become a leading tire manufacturer in the Chinese market.

During the 2012 Beijing Auto Show, this reporter interviewed Mr. Li Bingzhen, the Minister of China Regional Headquarters of Hankook Tire. The head of China, who has held important positions in Brazil, Europe, and South Korea, told reporters that at the current stage, the combined annual output of Hankook Tire in Jiaxing, Zhejiang, and Huai'an, Jiangsu is 30 million, and it is under construction. The third plant – Chongqing’s final production capacity is 12 million, so that the three factories in China will be able to produce 42 million tires; and Hankook Tire also produces 40 million tires at its headquarters in South Korea. In other words, when all three factories in China are in normal operation, the global center of Hankook Tire will be transferred from South Korea to China.

Aiming at the high-end market of China's own brands, we saw the number of Chinese self-owned models on the Beijing auto show and the speed of development. In particular, many high-end models with independent brands have emerged, giving Li Bingzhen a great deal of shock. Although Hantai Tire has been supporting more than 30 domestic automakers in recent years and has made breakthroughs in high-end products, Li Bingzhen still believes that Hankook Tire needs to strengthen cooperation with auto brands. To achieve its long-term strategic goals.

In 2009, in order to achieve further growth, Hankook Tire formulated a mid- and long-term strategic goal named after “5-1-1”. The “5” represents the tire manufacturer that Hankook Tire increased from the 7th in the global ranking to the 5th in the world by 2014. The first “1” represents the highest profit rate in the industry, and the second “1” represents the product. Quality and productivity won first place.

What is the objective of such a grand goal reflected in the Chinese market? Li Bingzhen introduced that Hantai Tire’s market share in China’s auxiliary market is far ahead of its competitors, including domestic OEMs including FAW Audi, Shanghai Volkswagen, FAW-Volkswagen, Beijing Hyundai, and Dongfeng Yueda Kia. The brands include the German, Japanese and Korean brands. And other global famous brands, and supporting models are mostly the latest or flagship models of vehicle manufacturers; at the same time, starting in 2009 for the domestic high-end car Audi A6L to provide support to achieve a breakthrough in high-end products.

Li Bingzhen believes that with the continuous development of the Chinese economy, the demand for high-end automobiles will continue to increase. Hankook Tire will devote most of its efforts to the development of high-end vehicles, including the development and sales of high-performance tires.

Quality First is the company's mission As a special automotive component product such as tires, safety and environmental protection are two important topics in the tire industry. Li Bingzhen said that tires are products directly related to people's lives. For Hankook Tire, it always follows the principle of quality-oriented management and regards ensuring the best quality of the tires as its mission.

As we all know, tires inevitably produce some flavor during the production process of the factory. Although this taste does not cause great harm to human health, Hankook Tyre has invested heavily in each factory to add equipment that will be produced in the production process. The odor is collected and then converted inside the device, eventually discharging the gas without any unusual odor.

The Chinese market continued to be optimistic about the reasons for the smooth development of Hankook Tire in the Chinese market in recent years. Li Bingzhen believes that it is mainly localization that is doing well. He explained that each product launched in the Chinese market is based on research and analysis of the actual conditions of roads and driving in China, and reflects these contents in product development and design, through the China Technology R&D Center in Jiaxing. The Korea Central Research Institute communicates continuously, develops and designs products for small-scale production, and then takes them to China for installation on different cars and conducts field trials. After fine-tuning some of the less-perfect aspects Stereotype production.

Obviously, from the perspective of the overall layout of the global market of Hankook Tire, the future Chinese market is still the area they believe has the greatest potential for development. Li Bingzhen said that Hankook Tire must first introduce and produce the latest and best products in the Chinese market, and all the latest and best products that Hankook has developed globally will all get China to produce and sell production scales. With the development of the Chinese automotive market and the tire market, Hankook Tire may establish a fourth factory in China.