Hankook Tire & Technology Co., the world's sixth-largest tiremaker by sales, said Thursday it recently began supplying tires for Volkswagen's all-electric ID.4 SUV this year.

Hankook Tire has provided the high-performance Ventus S1 evo3 ev tires for the ID.4 model since the second quarter of the year, the company said in a statement.

To enhance its global brand image, the tiremaker has provided its OE tire products for 320 kinds of vehicles of nearly 50 foreign carmakers, including Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche.

Supplying OE tires to car manufacturers does not generate much revenue for tiremakers but securing big companies as clients helps improve their brand image, and can lead to boosting brand awareness and a rise in product prices down the line.

For tiremakers, it is more profitable to sell replacement equipment tires in after-sales markets.

In 2020, Hankook Tire's net profit fell 10 percent to 385.2 billion won ($337 million) from 429.6 billion won a year earlier amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hankook Tire earns over 80 percent of its total revenue from abroad.

It has eight plants -- two in South Korea, one in Hungary, one in the United States, three in China and one in Indonesia -- whose combined capacity reaches 102 million tires per year. (Yonhap)