Now it’s time to take a close look at a small but competitive business making a difference for the Korean economy. This week’s spotlight is placed on HJC-Helmets, leader in motorcycle helmet development and manufacturing.

The Seoul International Sports & Leisure Industry Show took place in southern Seoul for four days, starting on February 21. Big outdoor brands and rising industry players attended the trade show to show where Korea’s sports and leisure sector is headed in the future. One such company is HJC Helmets, a leader in the global motorcycle helmet market. Let’s find out more about the company from Mr. Seol Eui-seok설의석 in charge of its sales team.

The company exports about two million helmets a year. We’ve been the No.1 in market share in North America since 1992, and although not at the top yet, we’ve been seeing a steep increase in Europe for the last five years as well. We had to rely on our low prices to break into the North American market before 1992, because no one recognized our brand back then. But once we entered the market, we worked on product quality and HJC Helmets became the world’s only helmet maker with its own production plant. Only three companies around the world have wind tunnel systems to test wind resistance. Not only are we one of the three, but our system is also the best among the three.

Established in 1971 and having started exporting helmets under its own brand name since 1986, HJC Helmets has worked furiously to reach the top in the global motorcycle helmet market. As a result, the small Korean company specializing in motorcycle helmets outsold its Japanese competitor to take the largest market shares in the U.S. and Canada in 1992 and has never relinquished that title since then. With the helmets manufactured in the company’s own plant, HJC Helmets has taken 18% of the global motorcycle helmet market, enjoying a market share way larger than 8% of Italy’s Nolan, the industry’s No. 2. How was HJC Helmets, which started out as a small sewing business, able to become such a dominant industry leader in just four decades?

All helmet companies ultimately hope to make small, lightweight, and tough helmets. HJC Helmets founded its own research center in 2002 and our researchers have been developing safe, new materials to make lightweight and strong helmets. We currently have more than 60 patents to our name. Most people may think there isn’t much to making motorcycle helmets, but actually it’s very difficult, perhaps even more so than manufacturing electronic devices. We need to care about safety just as intensely as automobile makers, and we have to introduce new or improved models every three to five years to appeal to consumers, just like carmakers roll out new designs every so often. HJC Helmets set up mid-to-long-term plans in order to pioneer new markets earlier than our competitors.

As a rule, HJC Helmets invests 10% of its annual revenue to research and development. In 2002 the company opened its own research center to work on the helmet safety and design. The research center also comes up with innovative materials and technologies to make the world’s most lightweight, toughest, and safest helmets for motorcycle riders. Its plastic helmet is made with lightweight yet strong plastic materials to reduce the stress applied to the wearer’s neck, while ensuring their safety from external shock. It is not surprising that HJC Helmets already has more than 60 patents. HJC Helmets also introduce new designs every six months to a year in order to attract the attention of motorcycle riders. As a matter of fact, HJC Helmets won explosive responses at a motorcycle show held in Paris in December, for its R-Pha 10 Plus, the model favored by champion motorcyclist Jorge Lorenzo.

There is a motorcycle competition tour called MotoGP composed of 30 of the world’s top motorcyclists. We are the official helmet sponsor of Spain’s champion motorcyclist Jorge Lorenzo. It’s like having Tiger Woods play with Korean-made golf clubs at the peak of his career. MotoGP is not a competition well-known to Koreans, but we are sponsoring a world champion. We also provide support to other young, promising riders, and have formed strategic ties with large marketing firms in North America and Europe to boost our brand value and awareness.

In electrifying, lightning-paced motorcycle races, helmets are the only thing protecting the motorcycle riders from career-ending injuries, or even instant deaths. HJC Helmets came to be a big name in helmet safety when motorcyclist Aaron Yates got into a devastating accident. He fell and rolled several times, but came out without a scratch and went on to finish second in the second race. After the race Yates held up his helmet and proclaimed that his helmet had saved his life. And that helmet was one of HJC Helmets model. That incident helped propel the company into the top of the industry, but HJC Helmets has not let complacency take over. Instead, it’s looking ahead to a brighter future through hard work and innovation.

Our products are considered mid-to-low-priced helmets in North America, but our high-end models, the R-pha series, are doing very well in the European market. We’re trying really hard to change our image from low-end to high-class. HJC Helmets also try to pioneer new markets in Latin America and Asia. Our ultimate goal is to become the number one in both motorcycle and bicycle helmet markets.

A moment’s complacency would knock HJC Helmets out of its top spot. Well aware of the precariousness of its industry dominance, HJC Helmets is doing its best to keep developing, analyzing, and manufacturing the safest and sleekest headgear for all motorcycle and bicycle riders in the world.