Conti to invest $10m at US test site

Uvalde, Texas — Continental Tire the Americas LLC intends to invest $10 million (€9.4 million) in an indoor tire testing centre at its US proving grounds outside Uvalde.

The centre is designed to provide indoor test capacity for all tires manufactured in Continental's North and South American plants, Conti said.

"The new test centre will support our vision of being the preferred technology partner for Continental's original equipment customers for tires, as well as increasing our speed in developing new technologies specifically designed for the Americas market," said Boris Mergell, head of research and development for passenger and light truck tires at Continental AG.

Conti did not disclose a timeline for completing the project nor details as to the size or testing capabilities of the new facility. Conti's Uvalde test site covers more than 5,000 acres and has 13-plus miles of paved tracks and countless miles of unpaved off-road testing areas.

Conti has made several improvements to the Uvalde facility since taking it over in 1987 with its acquisition of General Tire. In 2015 it added a 1.8-mile long dry-handling track and in in 2011 it built a 15-acre vehicle dynamics area that can be flooded for wet grip evaluation.