Continental opens China winter test centre

The official opening of Continental’s new winter test centre in China’s Heilongjiang Province was held on 23 February. The Heihe-based facility, operated by the company’s Chassis & Safety Division, is located in what Conti calls a “favourable environment for cold weather testing” and is made up of a 7 million square metre lake and 30,000 square metre land area. The Heihe winter test centre is the German company’s fourth ABS and ESC test facility; the others are located in Europe, the US and Japan. The focus for activities at the centre will be testing vehicle stability in all driving conditions, especially on low friction surfaces.

“The Heihe winter test centre integrates testing facilities and global expertise to carry out system tests and develop vehicle applications on new technologies and products.” commented Dr. Thomas Meurers, head of EBS R&D China. In addition to performing this role, Conti says the winter test centre will play an important role in expanding the company’s local research and development capacities in order to offer more customised, high quality products to the Chinese market.

With the opening of the centre, Continental says it is speeding up localisation so as to more effectively meet the ever-increasing demand for vehicle safety products and improve road safety in China. “We see a great potential for Continental in the China auto safety market,” stated Dirk Remde, head of Conti’s Electronic Brake Systems China business unit during the inauguration ceremony. “With the foundation of our winter test centre, we are moving a big step closer to our ambitious goal of ‘safety for everyone’ and will further complete our capabilities for safety solutions in China.”