Hankook to open R&D office in Spain

(Tire Business report)

Tarragona, Spain – Hankook Tire Co. Inc. and Spain’s Applus+IDIADA, an independent automotive engineering concern, have agreed to work together on a variety of research initiatives to support Hankook’s expanding OE business in Europe.

As part of the contract, Hankook is opening a 7,200-sq.-ft. (669-sq-metre) technical office at Applus IDIADA’s proving ground near Tarragona. This office, dubbed Spain Technical Office for European Technical Center, will help Hankook to shorten development period, improve test accuracy and strengthen its research and development capabilities, according to IDIADA.

“With the technical alliance, we expect acceleration of high-end technologies for high-performance tires and to be the global leading top tire maker,” said Hankook Tire senior vice president Lee Sang Ju.

One of the first projects on tap is researching road surface composition in advance of Hankook’s building a tire test proving ground in South Korea.

Applus+IDIADA describes itself as a company dedicated to design, testing, engineering and homologation services to the automotive industry worldwide.

IDIADA said its location near Tarragona allows it to offer customers the opportunity to test year-round with few weather-related interruptions.

IDIADA also works with Yokohama Rubber and recently began working with Shandong Linglong Tire on designing and engineering a tire proving ground in China.