Hankook Tire Ranks Fifth in J.D. Power
OE Tire Customer Satisfaction Study
Mass Market/Non-Luxury Segment

Jumps 5 steps from 10th in 2005 to 5th, recording third consecutive year of increase

.....SEOUL, KOREA 27th SEPTEMBER - Hankook Tire (www.hankooktire.com), one of the fastest growing tire manufacturers in the world, today announced that it has ranked fifth in the mass market/non-luxury segment of J.D. Power’s ‘2007 OE Tire Customer Satisfaction Study’. The success is due to the company’s increasing focus on quality service and production, and the consistent investment of approximately 5% of annual revenue into R&D.

.....Hankook Tire scored 810 out of 1,000 points outperforming Bridgestone, Dunlop, Yokohama and Continental. The study measures overall customer satisfaction with their original equipment tires examining five key factors: wearability, appearance, traction/grip, ride and handling. Rankings are based on owner experiences with their tires during the first year of ownership. Hankook Tire jumped its rank for third consecutive year; escalating from tenth in 2004 to eighth in 2005, sixth in 2006 and fifth in this year.

.....Mr. Seung Hwa Suh, CEO, Hankook Tire, said, “We consistently invest in development and testing to provide consumers with superior quality and high performance tires, by using advancing technologies and research to tailor region-specific, OE model-specific and need-specific products. This result is a great endorsement and ratification of our business strategies, and future investments in technology will sustain our reputation for producing tires that are at least on a par with top tier tire makers.”

.....The tire manufacturer climbed to become the world’s seventh largest tire manufacturer based on 2006 sales with US$3 billion in 2006, recording the joint highest of 20% growth rate out of all eleven global tire manufacturers listed*. To continue the momentum, Hankook Tire is investing in R&D for further product innovation, marketing and increased production capacity, including €500 million European production facility in Hungary which started its production in June.

* According to Modern Tire Dealer (Jan. 2007), Hankook Tire has grown to become the world’s seventh largest tire manufacturer based on 2006 sales with 20% of the joint highest growth rate out of all top eleven global tire manufactures

About Hankook Tire Co., Ltd

Hankook Tire (CEO: Seung Hwa Suh) is the seventh largest and one of the fastest growing tire manufacturers in the world. It produces innovative, superior quality, and high performance radial tires for passenger cars, light trucks (SUVs, RVs, and etc.), trucks, buses and special motor sports vehicles. It invests approximately five per cent of revenue in research and development and develops cutting-edge technologies through its five global R&D Centers meeting regional customer demands and enhancing customer satisfaction. Selling in 170 countries around the world, the company has more than 12,000 employees around the world. Approximately 70% of revenue comes from growing overseas sales.

About Hankook Tire America Corp.

Headquartered in Wayne, N.J., Hankook Tire America Corp. is a technology-focused, market-driven company that markets and distributes a complete line of high performance and ultra-high performance passenger tires, light truck, SUV tires, as well as medium truck and bus tires to more than 400 independent dealers through 3000+ retail sales locations in the United States and Canada

For more information, please visit Hankook Tire’s web site at www.hankooktire.com.

About J.D. Power and Associates

Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is an ISO 9001-registered global marketing information services firm operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, performance improvement, training and customer satisfaction. The firm’s quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually. For more information on car reviews and ratings, car insurance, health insurance, cell phone ratings, and more, please visit JDPower.com. J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.

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