Hankook, Vaculug partner for retreading business in UK, Ireland

Daventry, UK – Hankook Tire has signed a five-year contract with UK retreader Vaculug to expand its retreading business for commercial vehicle.

Under the deal, Grantham, UK-based Vaculug will manufacture Hankook’s retread brand “Hankook Alphatread” in the UK and Ireland and will also work with the South Korean tire maker to use Hankook products as fitment for all its fleets.

“Hankook continuously invests in its range and volumes of production of premium Alphatread hot-cured tires,” said Guy Heywood, Hankook Tire Europe VP marketing truck & bus, on 23 May.

“Our new partnership with Vaculug will support our mission to offer attractive and sustainable products,” he added.

Commenting on the deal Vaculug managing director Jorge Crespo said the five-year agreement comes after four decades of relationship with Hankook.

“We look forward to building on that partnership where the next generation of both Vaculug and Hankook help the environment through more sustainable initiatives such as this one.”

Hankook said its SmartLife solutions concept supports the retreading business as it enables commercial vehicle tires to be regrooved and retreaded several times.

The SmartLife solutions are claimed to feature 5-9 mm of additional base rubber under the tread, which will deliver up to 25% more mileage after regrooving.

Hankook’s Alphatread hot retreads are also claimed to deliver up to 100% of the mileage achieved with a new tire and equivalent performance for around 60% of the cost.

“If the regrooving and retreading process is continued in line with the Hankook SmartLife Solutions concept, the service life of a new tire can be increased to 250%,” Hankook claims.