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Hankook ramps up U.S. truck tire production in Tennessee
Clarksville plant is operating at 30% of capacity with full output targeted by the end of 2027
Some 85%-90% of Hankook’s truck tires for sale in the U.S. are set to be produced at the Clarksville plant by the end of 2027. (Hankook Tire North America)
Key Takeaways:
- Hankook’s Clarksville truck tire operation is running at 30% capacity and is expected to reach full production by the end of 2027.
- The plant is expected to produce 1 million truck and bus radial tires annually and supply most U.S. truck tire sales.
- Hankook is expanding staffing, production capacity and tire offerings while increasing its commercial tire sales efforts.
Truck tire manufacturing at Hankook’s Clarksville, Tenn., plant is running at 30% of capacity following the start of operations in May, according to Hankook Tire North America President and CEO Rob Williams.
Phase 3 of the plant — in which Hankook is manufacturing truck tires in the United States for the first time — is expected to reach capacity by the end of 2027, Williams said after a media tour of the plant.
“Typically, we allow 18 to 24 months for a ramp-up,” said Williams, a Virginia native who has worked for Hankook since 2019. Clarksville’s truck and bus radial (TBR) operations will be able to produce 1 million tires when the plant reaches capacity. The expansion into truck tire manufacturing in the U.S. ran parallel to a doubling of Clarksville’s passenger and light-truck tire manufacturing capacity to 10 million tires.
Some 85%-90% of Hankook’s truck tires for sale in the U.S. are set to be produced at the Clarksville plant by the end of 2027. Until now, U.S. customers were buying commercial vehicle tires produced in South Korea.
Williams stressed that plans for the $1.6 billion overall investment in the plant, including the doubling of passenger car and light-truck tire output, were well underway before the Trump administration began to impose heavy tariffs on imports in 2025, including tires and raw materials such as natural rubber.
“We have a full 25% tariff for all materials” from South Korea, the executive said. “We don’t look at the tariff as an advantage or disadvantage for us. That’s not really something we factor in.”
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“We don’t look at the tariff as an advantage or disadvantage for us," Hankook Tire North America CEO Rob Williams says. "That’s not really something we factor in.” (Hankook Tire North America)
U.S. imports from South Korea are also subject to a 12.5% Section 301 duty as a result of what are dubbed supply chain transparency concerns. In addition, imports of steel and aluminum are subject to a 50% levy.
The Clarksville plant began operations in 2017, focusing on passenger and light-truck tires, with a staff of 900. When the Phase 3 expansion is completed, the site will have about 2,600 employees, executives said.
Hankook is still recruiting machine operators and engineers for the TBR plant. Some equipment was still being installed when Transport Topics visited the plant Aug. 17.
Construction of Phase 3 of the plant also coincided with a downsizing in overall domestic U.S. truck tire manufacturing.
Tire plants shuttered
Since the start of 2025, three major U.S. tire plants have been shuttered:
- Yokohama, Salem, Va., March 2026, passenger and light-truck tires
- Yokohama, Spartanburg, S.C., February 2025, agricultural radial tires
- Bridgestone, La Vergne, Tenn., July 2025, commercial tires
Ahead of the start of truck-tire production in Clarksville, Hankook approached a high proportion of former management employees from the La Vergne facility, Williams said during a briefing, as the company sought to build out its team.
At present, the Clarksville plant is producing four different tread patterns (SKUs) — the AL 52, DL 12, DL 52 and DL 21 — and plans to add four more in September, said Williams.
To help sell those additional tires, Hankook expanded its sales team, particularly for fleets, as well as increasing its points of sale, said Mark Roe, vice president of truck and bus radial sales.
“We’re very optimistic of what the rest of ’26 and ’27 are going to be. I mean, the Tennessee factory alone is getting us noticed in a lot of segments that we weren’t previously. We’re a very well-known product, but being produced in Tennessee, we’re really optimistic going into ’27 and ’28, and really for the remainder of ’26 as well,” said Roe.
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Hankook was one of 10 winners of the International Motors Diamond Supplier award for 2026. (Hankook Tire North America)
That said, the U.S. Tire Manufacturing Association’s latest forecast, issued Aug. 6, puts truck tire demand in 2026 at 27.5 million units, a decrease of 5.5% compared with 29.1 million units in 2025. In March, the USTMA expected truck tire demand to total 29.4 million units.
Williams and Roe also said visibility would increase as a result of Hankook winning an International Motors Diamond Supplier award. Hankook was one of 10 winners for 2026 announced earlier in August.
Sanjay Goel, International Motors vice president of global strategic sourcing, cabin and electronics, told Hankook executives as he handed over the award that the recognition was due to quality of product, sustainability, responsiveness and supply chain dependability.
Hankook supplies original equipment and replacement drive and steer tires for International’s HV Series and MV Series trucks plus IC Bus school and transit buses.
