Despite Last Year's Tariff Impact, Three Major Tire Makers Grow Top Line
Hankook Tire & Technology Enters 20 Trillion Won Sales Era
Nexen Tire Surpasses 3 Trillion Won in Sales
Kumho Tire, Set to Announce Earnings on the 6th, Expected to See Sales Growth
Despite the impact of U.S. export tariffs last year, the three major Korean tire manufacturers succeeded in growing their top line. As tire segment margins are expected to continue expanding this year as well, they are projected to maintain solid growth momentum.
According to the tire industry on February 4, Hankook Tire & Technology posted sales of 21.2022 trillion won and operating profit of 1.8425 trillion won last year. Sales at its tire division, Hankook Tire, increased 9.6% year-on-year to 10.3186 trillion won, surpassing the 10 trillion won mark for the first time since the company was founded.
Hankook Tire Ventus S1 evo3 EV, an ultra-high-performance tire for electric vehicles. Hankook Tire & Technology
In the fourth quarter, Hankook Tire recorded its highest-ever quarterly sales of 2.7537 trillion won, while operating profit rose 2.5% year-on-year to 485 billion won.
Hankook Tire delivered robust growth last year, supported by stable performance in both the global original equipment and replacement markets and by efforts such as increasing the proportion of sales from high-inch tires, despite growing uncertainty in the global economy.
Hanon Systems, the thermal management subsidiary that has been consolidated as a Hankook Tire subsidiary since the first quarter of last year, reported annual sales of 10.8837 trillion won in 2025, up 8.9% year-on-year, and operating profit of 271.8 billion won, up 184.5% year-on-year. Since becoming a Hankook Tire subsidiary, it has continued to show fundamental improvement.
As of the cumulative results for 2025, high-inch tires of 18 inches or larger accounted for 47.8% of Hankook Tire's passenger car and light truck tire sales, while electric vehicle tires accounted for 27% of passenger car and light truck original equipment tire sales, indicating that profitability-focused qualitative growth has also continued.
Through iON, the world's first full-lineup tire brand dedicated to electric vehicles, Hankook Tire is expanding its supply of original equipment tires for premium electric vehicle brands. In the replacement market, it is also significantly expanding its presence in global markets such as Europe, Korea, North America, and China, strengthening its position as a leading tire brand dedicated to electric vehicles.
A Hankook Tire & Technology official said, "In 2026, we plan to focus on securing a competitive edge in the global market by pursuing continuous growth in sales and steadily expanding capacity at our Tennessee plant in the United States and our plant in Hungary in Europe," adding, "We also plan to further strengthen our partnerships with premium brands, with the goal of raising the share of high-inch tires to 51% and electric vehicle tires to at least 33% of passenger car and light truck original equipment tire sales."
Nexen Tire surpassed 3 trillion won in annual sales for the first time in six years, after exceeding 2 trillion won in 2019.
Nexen Tire posted sales of 3.1896 trillion won and operating profit of 170.3 billion won last year. Sales increased 12% year-on-year, while operating profit decreased 1.1%.
Last year's top-line growth was largely driven by the stable contribution from the second-phase capacity expansion at its European plant. This reflects the company's efforts to expand sales even as business uncertainty increased, including the imposition of U.S. item-specific tariffs. In the original equipment (OE) market, the company maintained strong growth by offering a diversified portfolio that covers both electric and internal combustion engine vehicles for around 30 global carmakers. In the replacement (RE) segment, it also achieved stable growth through regionally optimized product strategies.
The imposition of U.S. item-specific tariffs had a partial impact on profitability. However, in an environment where demand was weakened by uncertainty over trade policies, Nexen Tire minimized the impact on its results by diversifying distribution channels by region and improving its product mix through increased sales of high-inch products. In addition, efforts to improve costs, based on enhanced management efficiency, combined with the stabilizing trend in raw material prices and ocean freight rates, helped the company recover profitability.
This year, Nexen Tire plans to respond preemptively to growing uncertainty in the trade environment due to the spread of protectionism, while focusing on strengthening its sales capabilities and qualitative growth based on the growth foundation it has built in development and production. To this end, Nexen Tire will carry out sales-focused marketing activities to simultaneously increase brand exposure and strengthen partnerships with its customers, and it plans to bolster its RE sales capabilities by enhancing brand value on the back of its premium OE performance.
A Nexen Tire official said, "Amid growing uncertainty in the global trade environment, we achieved a meaningful milestone by surpassing 3 trillion won in sales for the first time in our history," adding, "We will continue to pursue both quantitative and qualitative growth worldwide by strengthening our competitiveness in products and distribution."
Kumho Tire, which is scheduled to announce its earnings on February 6, is also expected to show solid growth.
According to securities industry estimates, Kumho Tire's sales last year are projected at 4.717 trillion won, with operating profit of 54.9 billion won. Operating profit is expected to decline slightly, while sales are forecast to increase 4% year-on-year. However, fourth-quarter sales last year are projected to have fallen 5.2% year-on-year to 1.18 trillion won due to the impact of a fire at the Gwangju plant, with operating profit expected to drop 21.2% to 119.2 billion won.
Meanwhile, tire segment margins are expected to continue expanding this year as well. Kim Seongrae, an analyst at Hanwha Investment & Securities, said, "We have entered a phase of margin expansion due to the continued downward stabilization of material and logistics costs, tire price hikes, and the confirmation of a 15% tariff on auto parts," adding, "In terms of price hikes, the increases implemented in Korea and Europe early last year are being followed by the gradual reflection of price hikes carried out in North America in the second half of the year."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
