Hankook Tire announces substantial growth with 2023 Q2 financial results

- A robust Q2 performance include a 11% increase in sales and a 41.6% surge in operating profits YoY
- The company’s premium brand strategy, focused on expanding high-value products and acquiring market share in the EV tire industry, yielded strong market penetration results

Seoul, Korea, July 28, 2023 – Global leading tire company Hankook Tire & Technology (Hankook Tire) announced sales of KRW 2,263.4 billion and an operating profit of KRW 248.2 billion based on global consolidated financial results for the second quarter of 2023. Both sales and operating profit increased by 11% and 41.6% respectively year-over-year (YoY).

Despite the challenging business environment such as slow economic growth, Hankook Tire managed to achieve widespread growth. Through its global, top-tier technology and premium brand strategy, the company recorded robust selling of its electric vehicle (EV) tires and high-value products, leading to increase in both sales and operating profit.

As vehicle production increased due to stable supply of automotive semiconductors, supply of Original Equipment Tire (OET) continued to expand globally. Also, in spite of reduced demand due to high distributor inventories in major markets, sales of replacement tires exceeded market demand. In addition, profitability improved due to stabilization of raw material costs and freight rates.

In particular, the company’s sales portion of passenger car tires of 18 inches and higher – which are high-value products – rose 4.5%p YoY, recording 43.6%. Sales of replacement tires and original equipment tires increased in the major markets, such as Europe, North America, and China, driving global growth.

In the second quarter, Hankook Tire launched ‘iON evo’ and ‘iON evo SUV’, finishing a full lineup of EV tires – including all-season, summer, winter, and performance – in the Korean market. Hankook Tire also introduced ‘iON evo’ and the all-season tire ‘iON ST AS’ in China – the world’s largest EV market – and further solidified Hankook Tire’s presence and competitiveness in the global market.

Though global economic uncertainty remains in the second half of the year, Hankook Tire plans to focus on pursuing qualitative growth, such as achieving sales increase of more than 5% YoY and 45% sales proportion for passenger car tires of 18 inches and higher. The company will also further develop more partnerships with leading global automakers and expand its presence in the EV market with the goal of reaching 20% of original equipment tire supply for EV models among total supply of OE tires for passenger cars and light trucks.

Q2 2023 Consolidated Financial Result

*Exchange Rates:

(NOTE: Average exchange rates for the given annual period, retrieved from Korea Exchange Bank)