Hankook Tire has been named the top company in the National Brand Competitiveness Index compiled by the Korea Productivity Center for four years in a row.

The tire maker won the top spot in such areas as marketing activities, brand-name recognition, and consideration to buy, among others. Moreover, the company won the top grade in the tire energy consumption ratio grades and has been getting more attention through its marketing comm-unications stressing its tires  high performance quality and the excellent evaluations it has received for its image and publicity.

Communication Director Kim Hyun-kyung said the tire maker continues to hold the public recognition as the top tire maker in Korea through its marketing campaigns and the upgrade of its product quality through continuous R&D, thus boosting its brand value.

“We plan to develop diverse products that can satisfy the diverse needs of customers and their purchase patterns by getting their approval for the quality of our products. We will do our best to maintain the excellent quality of our products and their values so they will always be seen by the public as the best brand,” Kim said.

In the meantime, Hankook Tire has been named the company that won the most public respect in Korea for 2012 and the best tire maker in the tire industry in Korea for three years in a row by the Korea Manufacturing Association Consulting.

Hankook Tire Co. sold 6.484 trillion won worth of auto tires at home and abroad last year, an increase of 20.9 percent YoY, with operating profit of 566.3 billion won, a decrease of 8.8 percent YoY, the company said recently.

The company attributed the encouraging sales record to the sale of its Ultra High Performance tire, a technology-intensive premium tire that sold well abroad, especially in Europe where its sales rose 58.9 percent YoY, particularly high-performance tires used in famous brand name autos in Europe, which rose 92 percent YoY. Those tires sold as well in other regions including North America and the Asia-Pacific region, with sales rising 27.1 percent and 14.8 percent, respectively.

Sales at home, in the meantime, amounted to 3.955 trillion won thanks to blazing sales of tires for new cars, up 43 percent YoY, and replacement sales up 9.7 percent, boosted by 17.9 percent YoY, besting all of its rival tire makers in Korea. 

Vice Chairman Suh Seung-hwa said, “We have been able to sustain the increasing trends in tire sales around the world thanks to our investments in high performance and environment friendly tires under our plan designed to invest in the development of futuristic tire technology. We will continue to invest in R&D in tire production technology and employ offensive marketing campaigns to strengthen the company’s image as a global leading tire maker.”

Hankook Tire has set up new overseas tire plants and expanded existing ones in various countries including China and Indonesia in line with its strategy to make Hankook Tire among the five largest auto tire makers in the world by 2014.