South Korea’s leading tire manufacturer, Hankook Tire Group, has changed the name of its holding company and six major subsidiaries to an integrated branding system under Hankook, the company announced Wednesday.

Holding group Hankook Tire Worldwide has changed its name to Hankook Technology Group, while its flagship company Hankook Tire changed to Hankook Tire & Technology.

Five other subsidiaries also changed the name to include the word Hankook, such as AtlasBX, a storage battery manufacturer, that changed to Hankook AtlasBX.

The move is said to be an effort to redefine itself into a technology-focused group. The decision to include the word “technology” reflects the group’s long-term mission to achieve innovation through advanced technologies amidst the “fourth industrial revolution,” the company explained.

Also, through integrated branding, the group expects increases in brand value and strengthening of competitiveness for subsidiaries that previously held names that did not contain the word Hankook.

Meanwhile, Model Solution, a digital prototype company, is the only subsidiary under the group excluded in the name change in order for the company to operate its business independently.

By Cho Hyee-su (chohyeesu@heraldcorp.com)