UPDATE: Hankook Ponders More Automotive Acquisitions

South Korea’s Hankook Tire Co. Ltd. says it may drive growth by buying more companies in the automotive sector.

Chief Marketing Officer Cho Hun-shick tells reporters in Korea there are no immediate targets and says no acquisitions are imminent.

The company separately hopes to increase its share of the global tire market to 10% by 2020 from 8% today. The company expects to open its first U.S. tire factory, an $800 million facility in Tennessee, by the end of this year.

In 2014 Hankook and private equity firm Hahn & Co. paid $3.6 billion to buy Visteon Corp.’s 70% stake in Korea-based Halla Visteon Climate Control Corp. Reuters says Hankook contributed $984 million to the deal, indicating the company acquired a stake of about 27% in the supply company.