Continental has opened a new Research and Development Centre for tyres on the site of its tyre plant in Hefei, China.

The initial construction phase, on an area of around 6,000 square metres, has created capacity to machine-test some 6,000 tyres a year and represents an investment volume of over 4 million euros. Plans for a second phase are already being drawn up to generate capacity for an additional 1,000 tyres to be tested.

Nikolai Setzer, head of the Tyre Division and Member of the Continental AG Executive Board, said: “This new facility represents another step in the systematic implementation of our ‘Vision 2025’, a program for growth that targets a better global balance of our research and development, production and sales activities. At the new R&D Centre in Hefei, summer and winter tyres for the APAC region will be developed and tested, with the aim of reinforcing our market position in this important growth region.

The facility is equipped with state-of-the-art test equipment. This includes a drum test bench that was custom-built for year-round testing of winter tyres for the high-growth Chinese market. As a result of this investment, in the future Continental will be able to develop new generations of summer and winter tires for the Chinese market much faster and more efficiently.

With the new unit, Continental has further expanded its development capacities in the region. The tyre manufacturer is aiming to respond even faster to existing and new consumer needs, as well as in its business with OEM partners in China and Asia.  “Our Research and Development Center in Hefei will help us forge even closer links with our customers in both the replacement and original equipment sectors, opening the door to long-term relationships with new customers in the region,” said Philipp von Hirschheydt, executive vice-president (Passenger Car Replacement Tyres APAC). “We will also be working closely with other labs in the region and are aiming to further expand our facilities in the next few years.”

Continental’s main tyre R&D facility with more than 1,200 engineers, chemists and many other tyre experts is located in Hanover-Stöcken in Germany. On the way to series production, every new tyre model at Continental undergoes a whole array of rigorous tests at indoor test facilities and on outdoor test tracks.

In the EMEA region, the main proving grounds are the Contidrom near Hanover (Germany), the Winter Test Center at Arvidsjaur (Sweden) and the Test Center in Puchov (Slovakia). In the Americas, Continental has access to the world’s largest tyre proving grounds at Uvalde in Texas (USA) and the APAC region now has the new indoor Research and Development Center in Hefei.