Hankook Tire decided to establish its own European winter tyre testing facility in Ivalo, Finland. The company has recently signed a contract to build the facility with the Finnish tyre testing company Test World Oy next to their 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 had started immediately after the signing of the agreement. Hankook Tire expects the entire site to be operational from 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 tyre brand,” said Mr. Seung Hwa Suh, Vice Chairman and CEO of Hankook Tire. And he added, “The new proving ground in Ivalo where various winter tests will be made shall boost effectiveness of our winter tyres to provide maximum satisfaction to our customers.”
Hankook Tire’s investment in the world’s most northerly winter proving ground area has been made partly also due to the increasingly varying conditions and the uncertain winter in more southerly Scandinavian or Alpine areas these days. Ivalo’s location offers very stable and long 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 keen cooperation with Europe Technical Centre (ETC) which is the company’s Germany-based R&D unit will be responsible to manage the new winter testing site.