Hankook Tire is in the process of establishing a European winter tire testing facility in Ivalo, Finland. The company recently signed a contract to build the facility with the Finnish tire testing company Test World Oy, next to Test World’s own testing area, Mellatracks.
Hankook Tire’s designated proving ground area will incorporate new test tracks for different test situations and will be securely fenced, as well as equipped with the necessary connecting and service roads. The testing center will be built with state-of-the-art workshop facilities, as well as offices, meeting and social rooms. Preparations for the construction and design work began immediately after the signing of the agreement. Hankook Tire expects the entire site to be operational by December 2016.
“Hankook Tire constantly invests to enhance its competitiveness in the global market. With our improved technological capability and production facility based on our technology leadership management, Hankook Tire will acquire more robust, more advanced R&D capabilities to become a global top-tier tire brand,” said Seung Hwa Suh, vice chairman and CEO of Hankook Tire. “The new proving ground in Ivalo where various winter tests will be made shall boost effectiveness of our winter tires to provide maximum satisfaction to our customers.”
Hankook Tire’s investment in the world’s most northerly winter proving ground area also has been made partly due to the increasingly varying conditions and the uncertain winter in more southerly Scandinavian or Alpine areas at the current time, according to the company. Ivalo’s location offers very long and stable winter conditions, which extends the time available for testing. Furthermore, flexible air services and a wide range of ancillary services have been identified as additional benefits. Once established, the Hankook Tire global R&D Center, in cooperation with Europe Technical Centre (ETC), which is the company’s Germany-based R&D unit, will be responsible for managing the new winter testing site.
“Hankook Tire has largely expanded R&D in Europe since the initial opening of our facility in 1997,” said Klaus Krause, head of the ETC. “Now, we are one of the main suppliers to many premium automakers, including all German brands Audi, BMW, MAN, Mercedes-Benz Car and Truck, MINI and Porsche. This requires a drastic increase in testing capacity, also for the expansion of our future winter original equipment business. Our long-standing, successful and trustable partnership with Test World has convinced us to establish the new venue in Ivalo for the best possible results. Thus, I am sure the new exclusive facility will help us to fulfill our future requirements on time and without compromises.”
