Hankook Tire’s electric bus tire wins the 2024 Red Dot Design Award

- A tire tailored for electric buses, the e Smart city AU56 achieved the highest accolade at Germany’s Red Dot Design Award this year
- Hankook Tire has continued to prove its design excellence by winning global design awards, including the Red Dot Design Award, iF Design Award, and IDEA every year since 2012

Seoul, Korea, May 2, 2024 — Global leading tire company Hankook Tire & Technology (Hankook Tire) announced that it has been named “Winner” in the Product Design category at the Red Dot Design Award 2024.

The Red Dot Award is an international design competition hosted by Germany’s International Forum in Hannover. It selected winners in Product Design, Brands & Communication Design, and Design Concept by comprehensively evaluating various factors such as the industrial products’ design, quality, function, and eco-friendliness.

Hankook Tire’s winning product this year is the “e Smart city AU56,” a new tire tailored for electric buses that is poised for a global launch by year’s end. This acknowledgment further solidifies Hankook Tire’s prominent position in the global electric vehicle tire market.

The e Smart city AU56 tire is built from advanced compounds, integrating cutting-edge technology to optimize performance for electric buses. It delivers enhanced mileage from its tire tread block technology, which provides superior grip and prolonged tread life, allowing the tire to last much longer than traditional bus tires.

The sidewall of the tire features a protector designed with block-like grooves and colors. This premium design serves aesthetic and functional purposes, reducing tire weight and minimizing the appearance of wear from curbs and other abrasions.

Including the most recent award, Hankook Tire has received 17 total awards at the Red Dot Design Awards since 2013. In 2015, Hankook Tire achieved the milestone of becoming the first Korean company to receive the highest honor, the Luminary at the Red Dot Design Award.

Additionally, Hankook Tire has consistently won the iF Design Award in Germany and the IDEA Award in the United States every year since 2012. Both awards are prestigious honors ranked among the world’s top three design accolades alongside the Red Dot Design Award. This continuous recognition in top-tier competitions demonstrates Hankook Tire’s high design standards as a leading global tire manufacturer.