In the automotive world, the Koreans used to be known for one thing: affordability. But in the forty or so years since Korean cars entered the world stage, they’ve evolved to become world-beating products in their own right. We would know; after all we worked closely with Kia for Asia’s Ultimate Tyre Awards’ inaugural tyre test…

It’s a similar story with Korean tyre brands. Where before their main selling point was their price, these days some of them are among the best in the biz, Hankook in particular. Not only is the company among the front-runners in tyre technology, but top car brands like Mercedes-Benz and BMW are also fitting Hankook tyres to their new cars from the factory.

But it’s not just the industry news that’s saying this – the data backs it up too! The Hankook Ventus S1 evo3 took top honours in the most competitive category of our tyre test, despite not even being the ideal tyre type for its class. While presenting our awards to Hankook, we asked them about their decisions for their entry, as well as what we can look forward to for the rest of 2022:

AUTA: What does this victory mean to Hankook and to Hock Tyre?

Hankook: Evo3 and Prime 3 has always been our best sellers, with this win, Hopefully it can bring us even better sales and more awareness for this brand.

AUTA: Why did you choose to enter the Hankook Ventus S1 evo3 (which is a performance tyre) into the comfort category?

Hankook: It’s because we did not have the stock for the size that was requested for this category at that time.

AUTA: Did you expect the Ventus S1 evo3 to win the comfort category? Are there any aspects of the test results that surprised you?

Hankook: Victory was somehow expected, as we already have very good feedbacks of this tyre from end users. Although it’s considered a Ultra High Performance tyre, due to its design this tyre has already won a lot awards and it’s also our best seller.

AUTA: What else can we expect from Hankook in 2022?

Hankook: Ventus Prime 4 and S1 Evo Z which is the OE for Porsche Panamera, BMW X3M, and Mini John Cooper Works GP.