NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Ford Motor Co. has awarded Hankook Tire America Corp.'s Clarksville, Tenn., factory its Q1 medal, recognizing the facility's excellence in key areas such as technological innovation, product quality, service capabilities and continuous improvement.
The Q1 — or "Quality is No. 1" medal — honors companies through Ford's quality assessment and certification system.
The Clarksville plant is the third Hankook facility to win the Q1 medal this year; its Jiangsu and Chongqing plants in China were awarded the honor in May.
The Q1 medal represents the commitment to a quality-first approach and is "an extremely influential benchmark in the automotive industry that demonstrates the quality level of suppliers and is pursued by major auto parts manufacturers around the world," Hankook said.
The Clarksville plant supplies tires to popular Ford models such as the new Ford Edge MKX, Ford Explorer and Ford Econoline.
"Trusted relationships with our OE customers are central to driving Hankook Tire forward," said President Rob Williams. "The innovation, quality and continued improvement of our Tennessee plant is key to delivering market-leading products to renowned automakers like Ford Motor Co. We're proud to see the Tennessee plant become the latest Hankook Tire facility to earn Ford's prestigious Q1 medal and look forward to continued success in Clarksville."
