Kumho has won another major international design award by scooping the top Platinum honour in the Futuristic class of the coveted Italian A' Design Awards.

The company is renowned for the research and development it dedicates to tyre products and is a regular winner of international accolades including the German iF and Red Dot design awards.

Kumho took the award with its futuristic super-low aspect ratio Maxplo, which has been designed to demonstrate how tyres of the future could look and operate.

The ultimate all-weather product features tread blocks that adjust to suit all weather conditions from dry to snow-covered roads.

In the wet, a clever combination of circumferential and three-dimensional grooves effectively pump water from the contact patch.

In typically slippery on/off road conditions the tread broadens to optimise traction and braking power, while spikes are unveiled to deal with the dangers of snow and ice.

According to Kumho Tyre Australia manager of marketing and training the Maxplo is an example of the sort of blue sky thinking that Kumho's R&D teams are looking at to take tyre performance and design to a totally new level.

"Maxplo has the potential to totally revolutionise tyre design and push the concept of a totally versatile all condition performance tyre to a point that has never been imagined before," said David Basha.

"While Maxplo may not be hitting our roads in the near future many of its concepts will flow into tyre design over the next few years and the overall concept will continue to be refined with a view to one day offering tyres such as this to consumers," he added.

Kumho has won a host of design awards in recent years including iF Design Awards in 2010 and 2012 as well as consecutive Red Dot Design Awards in 2012, 2013 and 2015.

"Kumho is constantly evolving its product lines and developing new compounds and tread patterns," said David Basha.

"The multi-million dollar investment into research and development is why Kumho has been so successful at recent design awards around the world," he said.

Kumho was presented with its A' Design Award at a gala dinner on the edge of Italy's Lake Como.

The A' Design Award features four levels of award, Platinum, Gold, Silver and Iron - making Kumho's Platinum accolade all the more impressive.

Since its inception in 1960, Kumho Tyres has been a model of steady growth amid dramatic changes of business landscape. Driven by innovation in management and technical development Kumho has become one of the top ten tyre companies in the world.

Over the past half-century Kumho Tyres has built the foundation for a sustainable company, which has thrived through a full range of business environments.

Kumho has succeeded in the development of superior tyres for all vehicles including high performance, passenger, sports utility and recreational vehicles, as well as light trucks, heavy truck and buses, industrial, agricultural, mining and construction vehicles as well as aircraft.

Kumho produces more than 68 million tyres annually with a massive research and development program which comprises more than 600 research personnel and 300 testing machines at proving grounds in South Korea, China, Europe and North America, Kumho leads the world with the latest in tyre technology, safety and performance. In Australia Kumho markets an extensive range of tyres for cars, 4WD's, light commercials, trucks and buses with a network centred around five state locations with the ability to distribute tyres to retailers across all areas of Au

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