Hankook Tire had already spent decades exporting tires, building factories, and adding technical centers by the time today’s operating company came into existence in 2012.
That creates an important split in its history. The tire-business lineage reaches back to Chosun Daiya Industrial in 1941, while the present Hankook Tire & Technology operating company was formed through a corporate spin-off more than 70 years later.
The structure changed again in 2025, when Hanon Systems became a consolidated subsidiary and added automotive thermal-management operations to a business historically centered on tires.
A Quick Look at the History of Hankook Tire
Company History Summary
Hankook Tire’s lineage began in Korea in 1941. Tire production followed in 1942, exports began in 1962, and the business gradually developed a wider network of domestic plants, overseas operations, technical centers, and manufacturing sites in China, Europe, Indonesia, and the United States.
The tire operation was spun off into a new Hankook Tire Co., Ltd. in 2012 and renamed Hankook Tire & Technology in 2019. During the 2020s, EV-specific tires, Formula E, and expanded testing became prominent parts of the story, followed by the 2025 consolidation of Hanon Systems.
Company Snapshot
Historical Origin: 1941, through the tire-business lineage of Chosun Daiya Industrial.
Present Operating Company: Created September 1, 2012 through the spin-off of the tire business.
Original Name: Chosun Daiya Industrial.
Holding Company: Hankook & Company Co., Ltd.
Core Historical Business: Tire manufacturing and sales.
Current Consolidated Scope: Tires plus automotive thermal-management operations through Hanon Systems.
Current Leadership: Co-CEOs Jongseon Ahn and Sanghoon Lee, appointed in March 2025.
From Chosun Daiya to an Exporting Tire Business
The lineage began in May 1941 as Chosun Daiya Industrial. A plant at Yeongdeungpo was completed in 1942, creating the manufacturing base from which the tire business developed.
After Korea’s liberation, Kang Kyung-ok acquired the business. The Academy of Korean Studies records a February 1955 change to Hankook Tire Manufacturing Co., Ltd., while Hankook Tire’s current milestone history records a 1953 change to “Diaya Korea Co., Ltd.” Those accounts leave the exact early postwar name sequence unresolved.
Exports to Pakistan began in 1962, extending the business beyond domestic tire production. In 1967, Cho Hong-je, founder of Hyosung Trading, acquired Hankook Tire Manufacturing. The company listed on Korea’s securities market the following year.
Industrial capacity continued to expand. Hankook Tire’s company history records a radial-tire milestone in 1974 and completion of the Daejeon plant in 1979. Hankook describes the 1974 product as Korea’s first radial passenger-car tire.
Plants, R&D, and a Wider International Footprint
International growth increasingly involved more than exports. Hankook Tire began adding a wider operating and technical network around its overseas markets.
A U.S. subsidiary was established in 1981, followed by an R&D center in 1982. Regional technical capability expanded with the America Technical Center in 1992, the Europe Technical Center in 1997, and the China Technical Center in 1998.
Manufacturing expanded alongside that network. The Geumsan plant was completed in 1997, while Hankook Tire’s chronology records completion of plants in Jiaxing and Jiangsu, China, in 1999.
By combining overseas sales presence, production, and product-development capability, Hankook Tire built infrastructure closer to major automotive markets. That broader network later supported a growing original-equipment business with global automakers.
European Production and Global OE Ambitions
During the 2000s, Hankook Tire increased its presence in Europe. A European Distribution Center was completed in 2001, followed later in the decade by manufacturing in Rácalmás, Hungary. Hankook pages differ on whether the Hungary plant should be described as completed in 2007 or 2008, so its major European production presence is best dated to the late 2000s.
The company’s milestone history records selection as an official tire supplier for Audi in 2008. That same year, Hyun Bum Cho described management’s ambitions in a MotorTrend interview: “We want to be the Toyota of tiremakers, not Ferrari.” The remark presented a goal of building a broad global tire business rather than a narrow exotic-performance niche.
Motorsport also became part of Hankook Tire’s technology and brand activity. The company became the official tire supplier for DTM in 2011, years before it took on a larger electric-motorsport role with Formula E.
The 2012 Spin-Off Creates the Present Operating Company
September 1, 2012 marks the legal beginning of today’s operating company.
On that date, the tire business was spun off from Hankook Tire Worldwide Co., Ltd., formerly Hankook Tire Co., Ltd., into a new Hankook Tire Co., Ltd. The 2012 audited report states that tire-related assets, liabilities, rights, duties, licenses, labor relationships, and contracts transferred in principle to the new company. Its shares were registered with the Korea Exchange on October 4, 2012.
The distinction is central to Hankook Tire’s corporate history: the business lineage reaches back to 1941, but the present operating company became legally distinct in 2012. The predecessor corporation continued on the holding-company side of the structure.
The new operating company continued expanding. Completion ceremonies were held for plants in Chongqing, China, and Indonesia in 2013. Hankook Tire launched the Laufenn brand in 2014 and completed Hankook Technodome, its central research center, in 2016.
North American Manufacturing and the “Technology” Identity
Hankook Tire had maintained a U.S. sales presence since 1981, but North American manufacturing came later. In October 2017, it opened its first North American production facility in Clarksville, Tennessee. The first phase was designed for annual capacity of about 5.5 million tires.
In 2022, the board approved a further $1.6 billion Tennessee expansion plan intended to increase passenger and light-truck tire capacity and add U.S. truck-and-bus tire production. The announced capacity figures were targets rather than completed output.
Product development was also moving toward electric vehicles. Hankook Tire’s milestone history records the 2018 introduction of Kinergy AS ev, a tire designed specifically for second-generation EVs.
On May 8, 2019, Hankook Tire Co., Ltd. changed its name to Hankook Tire & Technology Co., Ltd. Technical investment had been part of the business for decades, but the change made “Technology” part of the formal corporate identity.
EV Tires, Formula E, and the Daejeon Fire
The EV focus became more visible in the early 2020s. In 2022, Hankook Tire introduced iON, a tire family designed for premium electric vehicles. Company materials emphasized EV-related requirements including vehicle weight, torque, efficiency, and noise.
Formula E added a motorsport dimension to that work. Hankook Tire became the championship’s exclusive technical partner and tire supplier for the GEN3 era beginning with the 2023 season. Sooil Lee said in 2022 that management had decided roughly three years earlier to pursue the supplier role.
Hankook Tire also opened Hankook Technoring in 2022, expanding its testing infrastructure. The iON family, Formula E supply, and Technoring together made EV-focused product development, motorsport, and testing more visible parts of the company’s modern technology story.
The period also brought a major operational setback. A fire broke out at the Daejeon plant on the night of March 12, 2023. Yonhap reported that 10 workers and one firefighter sought treatment for smoke inhalation and that production was disrupted. Contemporaneous reports estimated that roughly 400,000 tires had burned, although that figure was provisional.
Hanon Systems Broadens the Corporate Scope
The most significant recent structural change came from outside the traditional tire business.
On January 3, 2025, Hankook Tire & Technology acquired an additional 23% interest in Hanon Systems for KRW 1.215926 trillion. The 2024 consolidated audit report states that Hanon Systems changed from an associate to a subsidiary and entered Hankook Tire & Technology’s consolidation scope.
Beginning in the first quarter of 2025, Hankook Tire’s consolidated results included Hanon Systems, adding automotive thermal-management operations alongside tires. That structural change means post-2025 consolidated revenue is not directly comparable with earlier tire-only figures without accounting for the acquisition.
In its 2024 acquisition announcement, Hankook & Company Group described the transaction as part of a broader mobility-technology strategy associated with Chairman Hyun Bum Cho. That was the group’s stated strategic rationale for the move.
Leadership also changed in 2025. Following the annual general meeting and board meeting on March 26, Jongseon Ahn and Sanghoon Lee were appointed co-CEOs. Ahn was assigned responsibilities including innovation, R&D, procurement, production, and quality, while Lee was assigned global sales, marketing, and original-equipment responsibilities.
Where Hankook Tire Stands Now
As of September 22, 2026, Hankook Tire & Technology’s consolidated reporting covered both its tire division and Hanon Systems’ thermal-management operations.
For the second quarter of 2026, the company reported KRW 2.8073 trillion in tire-division revenue and KRW 2.8752 trillion in Hanon Systems revenue. The same release reported that EV tires represented 31.8% of passenger-car and light-truck original-equipment tire sales. These figures are company-reported current performance measures.
From its 1941 manufacturing origins to the 2012 corporate separation and the 2025 addition of Hanon Systems, Hankook Tire’s history reflects repeated changes in scale, geography, technical capability, and corporate structure. Tires remain the historical core, while the consolidated company now also includes a substantial thermal-management business.
Timeline
This timeline highlights the major milestones that shaped Hankook Tire’s business lineage and present corporate structure.
1941
Chosun Daiya Industrial begins the tire-business lineage.
1942
The Yeongdeungpo plant is completed and tire production begins.
1953 / 1955
The Academy of Korean Studies and Hankook Tire record different dates and names for the early postwar company-name transition.
1962
The tire business begins exporting to Pakistan.
1967
Cho Hong-je acquires Hankook Tire Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
1968
The company lists on Korea’s securities market.
1979
The Daejeon plant is completed.
1981
A U.S. subsidiary is established.
1982
An R&D center is established.
1992–1999
Hankook Tire adds technical centers in the United States, Europe, and China, completes the Geumsan plant, and expands manufacturing in China.
Late 2000s
Major European manufacturing is established in Rácalmás, Hungary, while original-equipment relationships expand.
September 1, 2012
The tire business is spun off into a new Hankook Tire Co., Ltd., creating the present operating-company lineage.
2013
New plants in Chongqing, China, and Indonesia are completed.
2016
Hankook Technodome opens as the central R&D center.
October 2017
Hankook Tire opens its first North American production facility in Clarksville, Tennessee.
May 8, 2019
The operating company changes its name to Hankook Tire & Technology Co., Ltd.
2022
Hankook Tire introduces the iON EV-specific tire family and opens Hankook Technoring.
2023 Season
Hankook Tire becomes Formula E’s exclusive technical partner and tire supplier for the GEN3 era.
March 12, 2023
A major fire at the Daejeon plant disrupts production and causes smoke-inhalation injuries.
January 3, 2025
Hanon Systems becomes a consolidated subsidiary of Hankook Tire & Technology.
March 26, 2025
Jongseon Ahn and Sanghoon Lee are appointed co-CEOs.
2026
Consolidated reporting includes tire and thermal-management operations.
FAQs
Question: Was Hankook Tire & Technology legally founded in 1941?
Answer: The tire-business lineage begins in 1941, but the present operating company was created through the September 1, 2012 spin-off of the tire business. The two dates describe different parts of the corporate history.
Question: Was Cho Hong-je the founder of the 1941 company?
Answer: The documented history does not identify Cho Hong-je as the 1941 founder. The predecessor business existed from 1941, and the Academy of Korean Studies records that he acquired Hankook Tire Manufacturing in 1967.
Question: Why do sources give different dates for Hankook Tire’s early name change?
Answer: The Academy of Korean Studies records a February 1955 change to Hankook Tire Manufacturing Co., Ltd., while Hankook Tire’s current milestone page records a 1953 change to “Diaya Korea Co., Ltd.” The difference remains unresolved.
Interviews & Firsthand Resources
Hyun Bum Cho on Hankook Tire’s Global Ambitions
This 2008 MotorTrend feature captures management thinking while Hankook Tire was expanding its European manufacturing and original-equipment presence. It is useful for understanding how Hyun Bum Cho described the company’s desired global position during that period.
Sooil Lee on North American Growth
This 2012 Tire Review conversation with Sooil Lee provides firsthand context on Hankook Tire’s North American business before the Tennessee manufacturing plant opened. It helps place the later move into U.S. production within the company’s longer regional development.
View the Tire Review interview
The Formula E Development Team on a New Race Tire
This Hankook Motorsports resource presents the Formula E tire-development team’s perspective on creating the GEN3 tire. It is useful for readers interested in the engineering work behind the company’s electric-motorsport program.
View the Formula E team feature
Sources
- Academy of Korean Studies: Hankook Tire & Technology historical entry
- Hankook Tire & Technology: Company overview and milestones, Shares and shareholders, 2025 co-CEO appointments, Tennessee plant opening, Tennessee expansion announcement, iON EV tire family announcement, Hanon Systems acquisition strategy announcement, Q1 2025 results, Q2 2026 results, Hungary expansion announcement
- Hankook Tire / Audited Financial Reports: 2012 audit report, 2024 consolidated audit report
- ABB FIA Formula E World Championship: Hankook becomes tire supplier to Formula E
- Yonhap News Agency: Daejeon plant fire report
- MotorTrend: Hankook Tire feature and Hyun Bum Cho interview
- Tire Review: Conversation with Sooil Lee
- Hankook Motorsports: New Tire, New Formula E