SEOUL: Hankook Tire & Technology Co, the world’s sixth-largest tyre maker by sales, said yesterday it started supplying tyres for Mercedes-Benz’s S-Class sedan last year.

       Hankook Tire has been providing the high-performance tyres, including Ventus S1 Evo3 and Ventus S1 Evo3 run-flat products, since early last year in the form of original equipment (OE) products for the luxury sedan, the company said in a statement.

       To enhance its global brand image, the tyre maker has provided its OE tyre products for 320 kinds of vehicles of nearly 50 foreign carmakers, including Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche.

       Supplying OE tyres to car manufacturers does not generate much revenue for tyre makers but securing big companies as clients helps improve their brand image, and can lead to boosting brand awareness and a rise in product prices down the line.

       For tyre makers, it is more profitable to sell replacement equipment tyres in after-sales markets. Hankook Tire earns over 80% of its total revenue from abroad. It has eight plants – two in South Korea, one in Hungary, one in the United States, three in China and one in Indonesia – whose combined capacity reaches 102 million tyres per year. — The Korea Herald/ANN