Hankook, Yokohama and Goodyear net international honors

Hankook has won Tire Technology International’s Manufacturer of the Year Award in recognition of the company’s strong financial growth, its significant investment in production sites and technologies to ensure world-class products, and its rise from seventh to fifth place in the global tire maker rankings.

Environmental Achievement of the Year honors went to Yokohama.

“It has been a remarkable year for Yokohama in terms of environmental initiatives, and it’s great that these have not gone unrewarded,” says Adam Gavine, editor of Tire Technology International magazine. “Among its environmental work over the past 12 months that impressed the jury were its newly formulated guidelines for the preservation of biodiversity,” he adds.

Goodyear was saluted for its UltraGrip Ice+ winter tires. “With winters getting seemingly harsher for drivers each year, winter tires have never enjoyed greater levels of public interest, so it is fitting that the Goodyear UltraGrip Ice+ stud-less ice tire (was declared) victorious in the category this year,” says Gavine.

“This impressive tire has been engineered to master some of the world’s most challenging roads, including freezing Nordic winter roads, and features, among other technologies, ActiveGrip Technology, which combines a dual cap compound with hybrid sipes,” according to Gavine.

The Manufacturing and Design Innovation Award went to Reosense for its CureSense cure time control system, which can reduce cure times by up to 30 percent. The Industry Supplier of the Year Award was claimed by Allma, which thrived during a recession by creating highly efficient cabling technology, he says.

The honors were presented in Cologne, Germany at the 11th annual Tire Technology Expo.