Hankook gets Nissan Frontier OE spot

Seoul – Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. has selected two versions of the Hankook Dynapro as OE fitments on the 2016 Frontier pickup truck sold in North America.

The new contract is Hankook Tire Co. Inc.’s sixth with Nissan, the South Korean tire maker said. The others are on the Altima, NV200, Paladin, Qashqai, and Rogue.

Hankook said Nissan has made the Hankook fitment exclusive “across main size ranges” for the Frontier, the firm’s mid-size pickup truck.

Nissan assembles the Frontier King Cab and Crew Cab models at a plant in Smyrna, Tennessee.

Hankook’s OE fitments are the highway all-season Dynapro HT in sizes P265/70R16T and P265/60R18T and all-terrain Dynapro AT-M in size P265/75R16T tires.

The Frontier was the eighth most popular pickup truck line in the US last year, with sales of 62,817 units, according to data from Automotive News, a Detroit-based sister publication of ERJ.

Hankook describes the Dynapro HT as a premium all-season tire offering treadwear, rolling resistance and snow traction performance characteristics, while the Dynapro AT-M offers improved off-road traction, especially in muddy or snowy conditions.

Hankook vice chairman and CEO Seung Hwa Suh said the OE contracts prove Hankook products are “highly recognised as a global premium brand,” and that Hankook plans to raise its OE presence “by maintaining its heavy investment in R&D in order to meet the high standards of leading global auto makers.”