Founded: 1942
Headquarters: Yangsan, South Korea
Website: https://www.nexentire.com/
Nexen is one of the biggest Korean tire suppliers. At the moment, they are rapidly growing to conquer all possible markets, which is why there are an increasing number of Korean tires on the shelves now. Largely, Nexen is much like the Chinese brands. That is, they produce cheap tires at some expense of quality.
Who makes Nexen tires? Nexen doesn’t have any subsidiaries to speak of or parents, which is why they create tires all by themselves from A to B. Whether it’s a good thing, decide for yourself.
Asian tires are usually very cheap, especially if they made them in China. It’s not just superstitions, Chinese labor and resources are very cheap. Therefore, they are able to sell these tires at a smaller price, which is a sizeable advantage. Nexen aren’t that cheap, they are mostly Korea-made. The average cost is about $60 or $75.
It’s somewhere in-between China and Europe in pricing. The same can be said about the overall quality of these tires, as you’ll see further. Nexen is virtually the only manufacturer that assembles the majority of their tires in Korea. So, it’s a very good indicator of how good purely Korean tires can be.
Who makes Nexen Roadian tires? Roadian tires are a collection of high-performance and all-terrain rubbers. They are also made by Nexen themselves, and there isn’t any separate Roadian brand, although it is a popular collection.
Nexen tires handle very well, that much is certain. They don’t lose control all that often, not even if you accelerate to 100 miles/hour and beyond. They aren’t perfect, obviously, but there are no perfect tires. Given that these are cheap exemplars, you need to exercise caution when driving on surfaces like ice or slush.
They won’t really go crazy, but you can never know.
As for their constructive characteristics, it can vary a lot. On average, they are pretty tough, but also soft enough to absorb road issues, like furrows and so forth. You shouldn’t buy the cheapest options, because they tend to thin out the sidewall protection on these. You don’t want that.
Where are Nexen tires made? There are only about 4 Nexen-owned factories in the world. 2 of them are in Korea, 1 is in China and 1 is in Czech Republic. The majority of the tires are created on the Asian plants, but if you shop in Europe, you’ll like get one of the Czech-made treads.
The normally priced tires are, in fact, very enduring. It’s not unusual for them to reach 100,000 km (or 60,000 miles), but that’s just the front tread. You can be very unlucky and get thin sidewalls on the otherwise well-made tires. If you buy costlier tires, that won’t be a problem. But be wary, these are also slightly more rigid and tough.
Who sells Nexen tires? There are many Nexen-backed dealers across the world, but you can safely find these sold at independent dealers. They aren’t terribly uncommon – there are about 150 Nexen dealers in the world.
Nexen tires are largely very cost-effective. Even the cheaper options are pretty valuable this way. The pricier (relatively) models, in their turn, pay off whatever you invest into them wonderfully. They last at times more than the tires made by big names, like Michelin, Continental or Goodyear.
You should absolutely give them a go, although don’t pick cheaper tires if you can help it. The other are mostly excellent in many aspects.