Hankook is to establish its own European winter tire testing facility in Ivalo, Finland. It will be managed by Hankook’s European Technical Center and built at winter car and tire testing facility Test World.
The designated proving ground area will incorporate new test tracks for different scenarios and will be securely fenced. It will also be equipped with the necessary connecting and service roads. State-of-the-art workshop facilities as well as offices, meeting and social rooms will be installed.
Preparation for the construction and design work started immediately after the signing of the agreement. Hankook expects the entire site to be operational from December 2016.
Ivalo’s location offers very stable winter conditions for a long period of time, and also benefits from flexible air services and a wide range of ancillary services.
Ho-Youl Pae, head of Hankook Tire Europe, said, “We strongly believe that Hankook premium products must be developed and tested within their designated region, reflecting the road and weather conditions that they will be used on, to fit to the local market needs during the entire year. The new proving ground in Ivalo shall boost effectiveness of our winter testing here in Europe.”
Klaus Krause, head of the ETC, added, “We are now one of the main suppliers to many of the major OEMs. This requires a drastic increase in testing capacity, as do our plans for expansion of our future winter original equipment business. Our longstanding, successful and trustworthy partnership with Test World encouraged us to establish the new venue in Ivalo.”
December 17, 2015
