In this MTD exclusive, Shawn Denlein, president of sales and marketing, Kumho Tire U.S.A. Inc., discusses how the company is strategically expanding its customer base.

MTD: Can you bring us up to speed on Kumho’s U.S. business so far this year? What have been some of the company’s achievements and challenges?

Denlein: We’ve maintained that steady growth rate so far in 2026, above the overall market trend. We continue to expand our customer base and maintain our strong relationships with our business partners. I think there are four areas that have been challenging: one, the economy; two, consumer confidence; three, the flight of the consumer down from top-tier brands; and four, the residual effects from our plant fire in Gwangju in 2025. (Editor's note: A large fire broke out at Kumho's plant in Gwangju, South Korea, in May 2025, temporarily suspending production at the factory.) But with the swift, strategic change in the way our production was working and our supply chain, Kumho was able to overcome that challenge. We were able to move (production) around different plants. Fill rates got right back up. It was pretty swift. We maintained growth even through all that.

MTD: What does the replacement PLT tire market look like, from your point of view? What are you hearing? What are you seeing?

Denlein: When we entered this year, we felt like the PLT market would continue to have modest growth. But we did acknowledge that would depend on factors such as the rising cost of raw materials, inflation, supply chain and tariffs. We still see steady growth from our side. As far as our dealer base goes, it really depends on their geographic location and how their business priorities are structured. They’re facing the same headwinds as we are from the market perspective. They see the (brand) flight-down, too. They're going to have to make certain adjustments (about) how they move forward this year. Purchasing a set of tires is not a budgeted expense by the consumer. This, in turn, affects our distributors’ ability to sell in. But to combat this, we’re working strategically and closely to support our distributors and dealers – the tactical programs, effective communication, constant education. We have our EDGE program, our online training platform, and that’s designed to equip dealers and sales teams with in-depth knowledge of Kumho technology and product lines. We also launched a new website in March, which gives dealers as well as consumers even more in-depth information about our brand. We stay very close to our dealers and listen to what they say. I would say we’re one of the quickest (manufacturers) to react. We’re very nimble. And we’ve added even more collaborative meetings with our dealers on a regular basis and I think that's essential with the specific type of market we're in.

MTD: When we talked earlier this year, you mentioned that Kumho has been able to diversify if customer base. Can you elaborate on that? 

Denlein: Over the years, we’ve been able to grow our direct dealer side of our business. Our associate dealer base has been strong, but we’ve made major strides in having direct dealers. We're still growing our associate dealer base through our Premium Fuel program. We continue to make strategic decisions for growth through all channels and the overall market ... (with) the strategy really being to balance out our sales through all channels.

MTD: Kumho has added warehousing in the U.S. Why will this be a key aspect of the company's growth?

Denlein: We added a warehouse in Dallas and a secondary warehouse in Georgia. The addition of Dallas allows us to have shorter lead times and sufficient inventory available for our dealers in the central part of the U.S. We have a large dealer base on the East Coast, as well. So the addition of a secondary warehouse in Georgia allows us to have more storage capacity, more efficient delivery schedules and more readily inventory available in the east. And this also supports our OE side of the business, where we have capacity to support our OE partners from Georgia.

MTD: Can you bring us to to speed on Kumho's TBR tire program? What are the near-term and long-term plans for that part of Kumho's business?

Denlein: Like PLT, we’re working to expand our dealer network nationwide. We’re focused on growing the markets with existing legacy dealers and also adding key new partners. Key growth initiatives are supporting dealers and engaging with end-user programs to gain market growth. Our short-term plan highlights and focuses on engagement in several areas: last-mile, government, bus and regional support fleet programs. (Our) long-term plan would include adding national accounts ... and an increased OE presence. We continue to build out our commercial team, as well.

MTD: You’ve said in the past that Kumho wants to become a "top second-tier" manufacturer. What's your take on the brand tier stratification that we're seeing – the trade-down to less-expensive products – and where does the Kumho brand fit in that mix?

Denlein: Consumers have been trading down to tier-three and tier-four products ... due to the lack of confidence in the economy. We’ve still seen growth in 2026 and our plan is to continue this trend, primarily through developing high-quality products. We’re now testing against tier-one brands to meet or surpass their performance ... at what we see is a reasonable price that consumers can afford without sacrificing the benefits of their tires.

MTD: What can we expect to see form Kumho during the rest of 2026 and into next year?

Denlein: Continued growth and further diversification of our customer base to gain market share. We have gained market share. We’re introducing two new high quality products – our Road Venture HT, a highway all- season (tire), and then the Krugen GT Pro, an SUV all-season tire. That will be in September. We’ll have all the testing done. We expect great results there. We talked a little about the expansion of our warehousing...  (so) exceptional service for our customers, which includes inventory availability and shorter lead and delivery times.

From the marketing perspective, (we will) increase marketing efforts around social media. We’re doing more in-store and digital branding. We have a very robust motorsports and off-road sponsorships. We’re still involved in Formula Drift. We’ve added more drivers. So all of this has really gained traction for us from the marketing side. I (also) really believe we have to have open communication with our dealers and find ways to work together to find ways for both of us to succeed, so they're earning their profit and we’re staying healthy as a company.