This 50th anniversary year provides an ideal opportunity to look back on half a century of Kumho Tires and its business up to the present day. In an interview with Tyres & Accessories, the South Korean manufacturer’s CEO, Jong-Ho Kim, shares how the company has developed, what plans it has for the near future and the importance of its soccer sponsorship.

Kumho Tires has been in the tire business for 50 years. What are its most important achievements during this time?

We started from making 20 units of tires a day in 1960, but we have significantly grown to produce 180,000 a day (65 million units per year). In 1965, we first exported tires valued at $7,700 to Thailand, but now the volume has greatly increased to reach $1.8 billion, exported to around 180 countries worldwide.

Since we were ranked as the ninth global top tire manufacturer in 2003, Kumho Tires has kept maintaining its position within the top 10. Celebrating the 50th anniversary of foundation this year, we are still the youngest player among those top 10 companies.

As technical innovations are our power in competing with other international tiremakers, the most important achievements for us are those many “world’s first” technologies introduced through long-term research and development efforts; the world’s first 32-inch tire using technologies for motor sports racing tires and the world’s first 15 series tire for super cars.

In recent years Kumho Tires has become a global player. In which region do you see the biggest need for growth in the near future and how do you intend to achieve this?

Kumho Tire mainly exports to major tire markets such as North America and Europe and is advancing market share in Asia and the Middle East. In addition to our factories in Korea, we have four in China and one in Vietnam to meet the demands of overseas markets. In order to increase sales within Asian new emerging markets, the Middle East and South America, which are comparatively smaller markets, we are actively utilizing new product events as well as local promotions. Using a localized sales strategy, we plan to launch and provide products that meet local demand.

What does your general expansion plan for the next five years focus on?

We are continuously examining the possibility of expanding overseas factories and will improve global marketing activities and research and development standards in order to boost our brand awareness and ultimately to increase our global market share.

Have you already decided where to build your next tire factory after the construction of the U.S. facility? And when will production in the U.S. commence?

In a short period of time, we plan to increase our tire production through expanding the assembly lines in Vietnam, which manages the demands for the overseas markets. For the mid- and longe- term, we expect to jump into a leading global position by resuming the construction of the manufacturing plant in Georgia, U.S.

What is Kumho’s general growth plan for its original equipment business in Europe and other regions?

Those OE partners play very important roles in our global strategy. Sales from OE supply take 30 percent of Kumho Tires’ total revenues (and OE sales in overseas markets account for 30 percent of total OE sales). But it is more than just a simple number. Lots of end-users still tend to re-purchase OE manufactured tires that were first installed when the cars were released. Also, it means that the quality of Kumho’s tires gets the credit from the automobile makers.

Furthermore, we can easily make inroads into a new markets through our partnership with renowned car makers. For the first time among the Korean tire manufacturers, Kumho Tires succeeded in making an OE deal with Mercedes Benz (in 2007). With the reliability and quality we accumulated through this relationship, we could expand our supply to Mercedes Benz into the area of truck and bus radial tires (in 2009) for the first time in the local tire industry. Currently, we are supplying OE tires to Mercedes Benz, Volkswagen, Ford and Chrysler.

Along with Korea, China and the U.S. markets, Kumho also has a strong foothold in Europe. What is special about the European tire market? How can your European representation help you in other markets in terms of technology, marketing and distribution?

Thirty percent of Kumho Tire’s total export income is from Europe. Europe is an important market in terms of strategy rather than market share. Europe is traditionally an advanced market containing a rich history of the car industry and its related industry, including tires, thus expanding brand awareness and being acknowledged for quality in this market is crucial for raising brand value within the global market. Due to the Korea-EU FTA that is expected to take effect this year, an increase in sales within Europe, including OE, is expected.

Kumho Tires is a market leader in China. What is more important about China: the country as a huge market for potential sales or as a place to cheaply produce tires for the world?

Since the 1990s, we have tried to secure manufacturing facilities and have made investments in China. We don’t see China as just a manufacturing base, but as an important a market. [We view it as] our domestic market and we appreciate its high growth potential. We decided to pioneer new markets and dominate them in advance as we saw there are some practical limitations to overcoming established leaders in existing markets. Our sponsorship of Manchester United (MU), the English premium soccer league team, is also the result of a strategic decision that China is the country where the biggest numbers of MU FC fans live (about 60 percent of all MU fans live in China and South-East Asia, an estimated 190 million people).

Kumho Tires has the No. 1 market share of PCR and LTR tires in China. Today, we operate four manufacturing plants in China including Nanjing, Tianjin, Changchun and Nanjing/TBR.

Motor sport is not possible without tires. How do you see Kumho Tires’ current commitment to motorsports? Will there be changes in the near future? What role does motorsports play in your global marketing?

The passion of our staff toward motorsports is beyond your imagination. As we are a relative newcomer with the shortest history among the global top 10 tiremakers, we need to compete in the global market with our technical power, and motorsports is the area where we can show off our capabilities. We started developing tires for auto racing in the 1990s, and have now become the No. 1 brand in the global F3 tire industry, taking 40 percent of market share. We already completed the development of F1 tires in 2007 and now watch for an opportunity to enter into the F1 market, as well. Kumho Tires has greatly contributed to the Korean motorsports industry during its rather short history. It is the only Korean company to own technology to produce tires for F1 vehicles.

What benefits do you gain through your involvement in other sports, such as soccer? Will you continue your involvement in this area?

As the markets in Europe and China became more important, in 2007 we made a platinum sponsorship agreement with Manchester United, the world’s leading soccer club, deciding that a partnership could produce a synergy effect between the two of us. In 2007, Kumho Tires could achieve magnificent marketing effects valued at 20 billion won (about $18 million) from this sponsorship and media exposure due to the high popularity of MU, including Korean player Jisung Park. In 2009, the sponsorship’s value reached more than 30 billion won (about $27 million).

We give a special meaning to this sponsorship as it could significantly enhance our brand power and corporate image which can’t be calculated with money, especially through the MU Safe Player campaign to focus on traffic safety for children.

Interview courtesy of Tire Review/Tyres & Accessories