Kumho Tire (formerly known as Samyang Tire) is a

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

tire A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a Rim (wheel), wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide Traction (engineering), t ...

manufacturer. It is a subsidiary of Chinese tire conglomerate . Kumho Tire was previously operated as a business unit of the

Kumho Asiana Group Kumho Asiana Group is a large South Korean ''Chaebol'' (conglomerate), with subsidiaries in the construction, leisure, and logistics industries. The group is headquartered at the Kumho Asiana Main Tower in Sinmunno 1-ga, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South ...

Operations

An industrial conglomerate

chaebol A chaebol (, ; ) is a large industrial South Korean conglomerate run and controlled by an individual or family. A chaebol often consists of multiple diversified affiliates, controlled by a person or group whose power over the group often exc ...

, Kumho Tire manufactures a full range of tire under the Kumho, Marshal & Zetum brands. Kumho Tire runs three manufacturing facilities in South Korea: the Pyeongtaek Plant, the Gokseong Plant and the Gwangju Plant which includes the Kumho Research and Development center mentioned below. There are a further three plants in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

: the Tianjin Plant, the Gaoxin Plant (in Nanjing) and the Changchun Plant. There is also one plant in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

in the Binh Duong Province and one plant in the United States (Macon, Georgia). Kumho Tire exports tires worldwide and has a global network of sales organizations. It has three centers for research and development, with the largest in

Gwangju Gwangju () is South Korea's sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home Minister. The city was also the capital of South Jeolla Province until the provincial office ...

, South Korea. The other two centers are in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County, Ohio, Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 C ...

and

Birmingham, England Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. These service the US and European tire markets respectively. Other research centers are located in Buchholz (Germany) and Tianjin (China). Kumho Tyre (UK) Ltd (a subsidiary of Kumho Tire Co., Inc.) was created in 1977. Administrative functions are based in

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Stu-Sz#Su, location * S ...

, Surrey and the marketing department is operated from

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. On 15 March 2011,

China Central Television China Central Television (CCTV) is a Chinese state- and political party-owned broadcaster controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Its 50 different channels broadcast a variety of programing to more than one billion viewers in six lan ...

(CCTV) reported that there were serious irregularities in the tire production process of Kumho tires. It reported that Kumho used excessive amounts of recycled rubber as raw materials to reduce costs, which could lead to the sidewall of tires to bulge and potentially rupture. Soon after the program was aired, Kumho Tires released a statement denying the claims. It explained that the proportion of recycled rubber should be calculated by weight, not by quantity, and that 'it was inaccurate to rely on video footage to determine the quality of tires'. On 21 March 2011, the president of Kumho Tire (Kim Jong-ho), and the president of Kumho Tire China (Li Hanxie) released an official statement of apology through CCTV, and issued a recall of all the affected products. In 2017, it was announced that

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

tire manufacturer would acquire the majority stake in Kumho Tire. The deal was finalised in 2018, and the company then exited from

in the process.

Sponsorships

In 2007, Kumho became a Platinum Partner of the

Manchester United Football Club Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd), or simply United, is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. The club competes in the Premier League, ...

. The company is classed as an

Official Club Sponsor An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their ...

. In partnership with Manchester United, Kumho launched a "Play Safer" campaign designed to increase youth road safety awareness. The company also sponsors other motoring events such as European Formula 3 racing. On February 13, 2014,

Darren Rovell Darren Rovell (born June 30, 1978) is a sports business analyst who works for The Action Network. He previously worked for ESPN. Early life and education He attended and graduated cum laude from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, i ...

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

announced on his Twitter page that Kumho was named the official tire of the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

. Kumho Tire is one of the sponsors of the

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

Associates

Daehan Tire Daehan Tire Industries Co Ltd. () is a tire company headquartered in Seoul, Korea and established in 1990. It has been supplying automobile inner tubes and flaps to Kumho Tires Kumho Tire (formerly known as Samyang Tire) is a Korean tire manufac ...

since 1991.

References

External links

Official website
{{Automotive industry in South Korea Tire manufacturers of South Korea Companies based in Gwangju Automotive companies established in 1960 Auto parts suppliers of South Korea South Korean brands South Korean companies established in 1960

Operations

Sponsorships

Associates

See also

References

External links