Nexen tires earn IDEA nods

Seoul – Two of Nexen Tire Corp.'s tire designs have earned International Design Excellence Awards recognition for engineering and innovation.

One of the tires honoured by the international panel of judges was Breathe, an air-purifying concept tire engineered to help reduce pollution by removing fine particles and dust from the air and discharging purified air.

"Breathe," Nexen said in a statement, "was reviewed favourably for having suggested a new paradigm for the tire industry."

The other tire earning an IDEA nod was 'N'Fera AU7, an ultra-high-performance tire that developed for high-end sedans. It is available commercially, Nexen said, and is designed to deliver a stable, quiet ride, while also offering exceptional handling and breaking performance at high speeds.

"Nexen Tire's product competitiveness was proven by the prestigious IDEA design awards received by Nexen Tire's commercialized and conceptual products," Kyung Woo Cheon, Nexen's executive vice president of research and development, said in a news release.

"Nexen Tire will continue to lead the industry with differentiated product competitiveness, in addition to the innovative and active strategies."

The International Design Excellence Awards are presented annually by the Industrial Designers Society of America and winners are chosen by a panel of international design experts. Winners of this year's IDEA competition will be honoured Aug. 19 during a ceremony at Atlanta's Woodruff Arts Centre. Additional information is available online at idsa.org/IDEA.

Founded in 1942 and headquartered in Seoul, Nexen designs and manufactures tires for passenger cars, SUVs and light trucks. The firm owns and operates three manufacturing plants—two in South Korea and one in China. A fourth plant, planned for Zatex, Czech Republic, is due on stream in 2018.