Hankook Tire Expands to Eastern Europe
Hankook Tire Co., Korea's biggest tire maker, is weighing Eastern European countries such as Slovakia and Poland for a plant to supply regional carmakers including the Slovak unit of Kia Motors Corp.
Seoul-based Hankook declined to elaborate on the amount of the planned investment. The company will decide on the location and size of the investment in March, spokesman Moon Jeong-soo said in a phone interview.
"We are considering various countries right now, including Slovakia and Poland," the spokesman said.
Hankook, whose net income rose 64 percent last year to $163 million on higher demand for tires, seeks to expand into Eastern Europe to benefit from low labor costs and proximity to customers. Kia, one of its main clients, is building a factory in Slovakia with a capacity of producing at least 200,000 cars a year from late 2006.
Slovakia is enticing foreign investors with a flat 19 percent income tax and flexible labor laws, which make hiring and firing easier than in Western Europe.
Seoul-based Hankook declined to elaborate on the amount of the planned investment. The company will decide on the location and size of the investment in March, spokesman Moon Jeong-soo said in a phone interview.
"We are considering various countries right now, including Slovakia and Poland," the spokesman said.
Hankook, whose net income rose 64 percent last year to $163 million on higher demand for tires, seeks to expand into Eastern Europe to benefit from low labor costs and proximity to customers. Kia, one of its main clients, is building a factory in Slovakia with a capacity of producing at least 200,000 cars a year from late 2006.
Slovakia is enticing foreign investors with a flat 19 percent income tax and flexible labor laws, which make hiring and firing easier than in Western Europe.
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