Hankook & Company Group joins AAPEX 2026 with joint booth for three affiliates

Hankook & Company Group announced Wednesday that three of its core affiliates — Hankook & Company, Hanon Systems and Hankook Tire & Technology — will jointly participate in AAPEX 2026, a global automotive parts exhibition running Tuesday through Thursday in Las Vegas (local time).

The three companies will operate a joint pavilion for the second consecutive year, located on the second floor of the Venetian Expo in the Underhood exhibition zone. The front of the booth will feature a vehicle mockup integrating batteries, thermal management systems and tires from all three companies, visually demonstrating each product's role and the technological connections between them. A large hanging LED display overhead will screen promotional videos for the group along with highlights of key products and technologies.

Hankook & Company's Energy Solutions division will anchor its presentation around the Hankook AGM battery, its global flagship product, showcasing key products and technical capabilities.

The Hankook battery lineup covers lead-acid batteries tailored to a wide range of operating conditions for passenger and commercial vehicles, including AGM (Absorbent Glass Mat), EFB (Enhanced Flooded Battery) and MF (Maintenance Free) variants. At this year's exhibition, the company will unveil the Electrified AGM, a concept AGM battery, alongside a brand film.

In North America, Hankook & Company links its US sales subsidiary with a production base in Tennessee to maintain local product supply and customer support. The company plans to respond flexibly to customer demand through a production network spanning its Daejeon and Jeonju factories in Korea and its US facility, while continuing to expand cooperation with global partners.

Hanon Systems will target the North American thermal management aftermarket under the message "Driven by OE Expertise."

The exhibition will feature a broad range of thermal management products in high aftermarket demand — mechanical and electric compressors, radiators, condensers, cooling modules, electric water pumps and blower motors — presenting a portfolio that covers both internal combustion engine vehicles and electric vehicles.

In addition, the company will display for the first time a production-ready unit of its next-generation integrated thermal management solution, the HICE (Highly Integrated Cooling Entity) module, which demonstrates its modular engineering capabilities.

The HICE module integrates key refrigerant thermal management components — including an electric compressor, electronic expansion valve, water-cooled condenser, internal heat exchanger and chiller — into a single unit, reducing system complexity while simplifying assembly and improving space efficiency. First applied to the BMW iX3, the HICE module has been named a finalist for the 2026 Automotive News PACE Award, with results to be announced Nov. 17.

Hankook Tire & Technology will showcase the iON evo SUV, an electric vehicle-dedicated tire, alongside two airless concept tires, presenting both its leading electrification products and future tire technologies to highlight its technical competitiveness.

The iON evo SUV is engineered to balance key performance attributes — low noise, mileage, grip and low rolling resistance — while accounting for the high load and driving characteristics of electric vehicles. The tire will also be fitted to the vehicle mockup at the booth, and the company plans to use the exhibition to raise awareness of iON, its electric vehicle-dedicated tire brand, and reinforce its premium image.

The intelligent airless tire iFlex presents the company's development direction for tire technology suited to future mobility applications such as robotaxis.

Concept S, an airless tire built around a sustainability concept, embodies a vision for a future tire made entirely from sustainable materials by 2050. Exhibition content at the booth will explain the structure and technical characteristics of both iFlex and Concept S.

Hankook Tire & Technology will also participate in SEMA Show, a tuning and automotive accessories exhibition running concurrently in Las Vegas, to expand its customer reach in the North American automotive aftermarket and performance tuning segments and explore new business opportunities.

According to the Auto Care Association, the US automotive aftermarket — including parts, maintenance and service — is projected to grow 5.4 percent year-on-year this year to $599.7 billion, with further expansion to $676.5 billion expected by 2029.

"Through our second consecutive joint participation at AAPEX, we will showcase the group's technological competitiveness and business capabilities across batteries, thermal management and tires to customers worldwide," a Hankook & Company Group official said. "We will translate synergies among our affiliates into new business opportunities and further strengthen the standing of our global integrated brand, Hankook."

Meanwhile, Hankook & Company Group has expanded the features of its in-house AI service for employees, aiming to boost workplace efficiency by enabling staff to use AI for document drafting and data analysis as well as basic programming tasks.