Gasgoo.com (Shanghai January 31) - Korean tire manufacturer Kumho Tire gave a 29 percent salary raise to its employees last year, Beijing News reported today. The pay raise is the highest the company has ever given to its staff, sources from Kumho said.

According to Kumho employees, workers at supply chain providers such as Kumho tend to have salaries lower than their counterparts employed at automobile manufacturers, with most of their pay coming from seasonal and yearly bonuses. Some in the industry speculate that this most recent raise was decided upon in order to appease staff following several media scandals involving Kumho tires last year.

Following an exposé on CCTV last March, Kumho has been ordered to issue several product recalls, causing much harm to both the company's reputation and sales.