Kumho

Kumho Tire was founded in 1960 as Samyang Tire in Gwangju, South Korea, during the early years of the country's industrial expansion. The company operated under the Samyang name until 1996, when it was renamed Kumho Tire. South Korea was aggressively building its domestic manufacturing base, and the automotive sector was a central part of that effort. Kumho positioned itself as a supplier to that growing market and scaled alongside it. By the time Hyundai and Kia began exporting cars seriously in the 1980s and into the 1990s, Kumho had the production volume and engineering capacity to follow Korean automakers into international markets.

The Ecsta performance line became Kumho's calling card for enthusiasts. The PS91, their flagship ultra-high-performance summer tire, delivered real capability at a price point well below Michelin and Pirelli. Kumho also secured OEM fitments on select Hyundai and Kia performance models, including certain Hyundai N-line products, which gave the brand credibility in the performance segment that pure budget positioning couldn't provide on its own.

Kumho built motorsport credentials through involvement in touring car racing series and served as the tire supplier for Formula 3 Masters, a stepping-stone open-wheel series that ran in Europe. Working in competition gave Kumho engineers real data on tire behavior under sustained load and heat, which fed back into the compound development for the Ecsta road tires.

Doublestar Tire Group of China acquired a controlling stake in Kumho in 2018, providing capital for manufacturing investment while Kumho retained its Korean engineering identity. Today the brand occupies the value-performance bracket confidently, with prices that undercut Michelin and Continental while delivering more grip and handling precision than purely budget-oriented options from lesser-known manufacturers.