International auto supplier Continental has officially opened its chassis and safety division’s new winter test centre n Heihe, Heilongjiang province in China.
Continental said the move was further expanding its local R&D capabilities and speeding up localisation “so as to more effectively meet the ever-increasing demand for vehicle safety products as well as improve road safety in China”.
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“We see a great potential for Continental in the China auto safety market. With the [new 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.” said electronic brake systems unit chief Dirk Remde at the opening ceremony.
Located in an ideal environment for cold weather testing with a 7,000,000 sq m lake and 30,000sq m land area, the Heihe centre is Conti’s fourth such testing facility for ABS and ESC globally – the others are in the US, Europe and Japan.
The focus is on testing vehicle stability in all driving situations, especially on low friction surfaces.
Continental will use the centre to expand local R&D capacities to offer more customised products in China. The centre is home mainly to engineering and calibration teams for product application, vehicle application and validation, test management and technical release.
The chassis and safety division, one of five divisions at Continental, concentrates its vehicle application development, system testing and engineering activities in its two Chinese R&D locations in Changchun and in Jiading (Shanghai) to develop and design safety products and full system engineering according to local requirements.
