Hankook Tire showcases award winning futuristic concept tyres

At the IAA 2017 in Frankfurt, premium tyre maker Hankook showcases innovative concept tyres inspired by future mobility. The five futuristic concept tyres Magfloat, Flexup, i-Play, Shiftrac and Autobine are designed by students at the University of Cincinnati to showcase Hankook’s cutting edge technology.

Neu-Isenburg, Germany, September 13th 2017 - Global tyre company Hankook brings futuristic concept tyres to the 2017 IAA in Frankfurt. Each of the five concept tyres reflects Hankook’s design philosophy to develop innovative technology that will affect the future of driving. The tyres were designed in line with the theme ‘Connect to the Connected World’, where the company aims to predict mobility changes in future mega cities and present a vision of future mobility with tyres. This includes car sharing, autonomous driving and connected cars.

Hankook Tire’s 2016 Design Innovation – the company’s exclusive sponsorship program for the world’s leading design universities - collaborated with the University of Cincinnati to design the five futuristic concept tyres. Featured are ‘Magfloat’ for flexible single user mobility based on magnetic field extensions, ‘Flexup’ for single user mobility that can freely ascend stairs and ‘iPlay’, a two wheel single user mobility. The ‘Shiftrac’ allows for strong cornering whilst the ‘Autobine’ can attach and detach the tyres from the body according to the number of passengers.

“The IAA is a great venue for showcasing our innovative concept tyres because it is where the best in the industry come together,” said Mr. Seung Hwa Suh, Vice Chairman & CEO of Hankook Tire and added, “We are pleased to be leading the future mobility trend and look forward to revealing our futuristic concept tyres. Hankook Tire will continue to do its best to lead the tyre industry with our global top-tier technology.”

Hankook’s concept tyres have been continuously recognized for design excellence with leading global design awards. In 2015 and 2016, the Boostrac, HyBlade and Alpike were awarded at the Red Dot Luminary, iF Gold and IDEA Awards, followed by the Flexup and Shiftrac which received bronze and finalist awards at the 2017 IDEA Awards.

Visitors to this year’s IAA in Frankfurt will have a chance to see Hankook’s futuristic tyres Flexup, Shiftrac and Autobine, at Hall 8, Booth C26.

About Hankook Tire

Hankook Tire manufactures globally innovative, award-winning radial tyres of proven superior quality for passenger cars, light trucks, SUVs, RVs, trucks, and buses as well as motorsports (circuit racing/street circuits/rallies).

Aspiring to bring consumers the utmost excellence in product quality, technological excellence and driving satisfaction, Hankook Tire continuously invests in research and development maintaining five R&D centres and eight production facilities around the world. Bespoke tyre solutions for the European markets as well as European Original Equipment according to the requirements of leading premium car manufacturers, are developed in the company’s regional Technical Centre in Hanover/Germany. Production for the European region is taking place in the state-of-the-art manufacturing site in Rácalmás/Hungary which was inaugurated in June 2007 and is continuously being expanded.

Hankook Tire’s European headquarters are located in Neu-Isenburg near Frankfurt am Main in Germany. The manufacturer operates further branches in several European countries and sells its products through regional distributors in other local markets. Hankook Tire employs approximately 20,000 people worldwide and sells products in over 160 countries. The company has been the technical partner and exclusive tyre supplier of the Generation 3 for the FIA ABB Formula E World Championship since 2023. Internationally leading car manufacturers rely on tyres made by Hankook for their original equipment. Approximately 38 percent of the company's global sales are generated within the European region.

For more information please visit www.hankooktire-mediacenter.com or www.hankooktire.com

Hankook Tire Europe GmbH | Marketing Communications Europe | Siemensstr. 14, 63263 Neu-Isenburg | Germany

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Wheels and tyres with their own power source that attach and detach according to the weight of the vehicle. It is an autonomous bus concept (Driverless Public Transportation) that has an applied Self-Contained Drone concept.

File size: 1 MB

A single user mobility board which uses magnetic field extension and rotation principle. By improving accessibility and portability, it can move freely on pavements and can be used indoors.

File size: 1 MB

Futuristic single user mobility which can freely move within complicated cities and access stairs and speed bumps through a principle of divided treads that expand and contract.

File size: 2 MB

The two wheel with flexible suspension structure allows a minimized volume size during standby mode and maximized cornering performance. It is a single user mobility that can move freely through the city with high accessibility, similar to Flexup.

File size: 1 MB

The divided treads, with the skating principle provides maximum cornering performance. They are tyre concepts for special vehicles such as police cars in mega cities that are becoming increasingly sophisticated and dense

File size: 315 KB