Hankook enters retreading contract with U.K. company

DAVENTRY, U.K.—Hankook Tire & Technology Co. Ltd. has signed a five-year contract with United Kingdom-based retreader Vaculug to expand its retreading business for commercial vehicle.

Under the deal, Grantham, U.K.-based Vaculug will manufacture Hankook's retread brand "Hankook Alphatread" in the U.K. and Ireland and 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, vice president of marketing, truck and bus, with Hankook Tire Europe, in a May 23 statement.

"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 percent more mileage after regrooving.

Hankook's Alphatread hot retreads are also claimed to deliver up to 100 percent of the mileage achieved with a new tire and equivalent performance for around 60 percent 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 percent," Hankook claims.