Hankook starts first OE deliveries from Hungary factory

ERJ staff report (DS)

Neu-Isenburg, Germany -- Hankook has begun shipping tyres to Volkswagen in the first OE contract to be delivered from its factory in Hungary. Volkswagen's T5 family, which includes the Transporter, Caravelle, Multivan and California van models are all factory fitted with the Hankook Radial RA 28, size 215/65 R 16 C. The Radial RA 28, a specially balanced tyre aimed specifically at such vehicles.

The Radial RA 28 was developed mainly at Hankook's Europe Technical Center (ETC) located in Langenhagen near Hanover and tailored to the needs of Volkswagen Nutzfahrzeuge. Before tyre production for the T5 in the European factory started, the plant located in Dunaujvaros near Budapest, Hungary, was subjected to a severe audit by VW auditors.

The "T5" is the ninth VW model that is factory-equipped with Hankook tyres. It follows from the Caddy, Caddy Maxi, Polo, Golf VI and Tiguan models in Europe and the Jetta, Jetta SportWagen and New Beetle models produced in Mexico for the North American market.

More than 1,200 employees are currently producing about 15,000 tyres a day (about five million per year) are made at the Dunaujvaros plant. These come in more than 300 different dimensions for passenger cars, SUVs, vans and light trucks.