Hankook Tire Participates in White House SelectUSA Roundtable on Investing in America

(BRAMPTON, ON) MAY 27, 2014 – Hankook Tire Corporation recently participated in the White House’s SelectUSA Roundtable on investing in America demonstrating commitment to its continued growth in the North American market. The Roundtable meeting with President Obama, Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, and National Economic Council Director Jeff Zients was attended by Hankook Tire America Corp. President, Byeong Jin Lee.

Hankook Tire, one of the fastest growing tire companies in the world, is building on its success and increasing its presence on the global stage. This is the second Roundtable meeting with the President in which Hankook Tire has been invited to participate in within the span of one month. Hankook Vice Chairman and Global CEO, Seung Hwa Suh, was invited to participate in the SelectUSA Global Road Show with President Obama during his visit to South Korea in April.

Hankook announced plans last year to locate its eighth global manufacturing plant and first in the U.S. in Clarksville, Tennessee and is expected to break ground by the end of this year with tire production beginning by 2016. Hankook will invest over $800 million USD for a new state-of-the-art plant and create approximately 1,800 full-time jobs for the region.

By planting a firm stake in the U.S. market, Hankook is building momentum to become a long term player. Its presence will allow it to continue to build high quality tires and grow its reputation and brand recognition in North America. The company is also investing in research and development. Hankook’s Akron Technical Center has played an important role in developing products specifically for North Americans and will continue to help meet its goal to be a top tier brand in the North America.

“We look forward to building our first U.S. manufacturing plant, which will provide additional capacity for Hankook’s growing business in the U.S. market,” said Byeong Jin Lee, President, Hankook Tire America Corp. “By investing in America, we will continue to provide our U.S. dealers, consumers and car makers with high quality tires and leading service.”

Hankook’s First U.S. Plant
of several states and locations last year, Hankook chose to locate its first U.S. plant in Clarksville, Tennessee. From a geographic perspective, Clarksville is located in a very central part of the United States and also provides a very wide, established transportation network including rail, plane and highway infrastructure. The area also provides ideal access to inland waterways such as the Mississippi River. These features offer Hankook Tire a number of shipping methods to efficiently ship tires from the new factory location to customers. Also, the Clarksville area is comprised of a population of roughly 280,000 people, offering a viable workforce from both the immediate area as well as neighbouring Nashville.