Continental expands in Brazil

Continental is building a new tech center to expand its capabilities for testing emission, homologation and calibration on gasoline and diesel engines. The company is setting its cornerstone in the Salto Industrial Park – in the interior of São Paulo State, 120 kilometers from the Capital - where around 500 people already work at the local Continental Powertrain facility. Brazilian vehicle manufacturers will have access to the infrastructure offered by a modern tech center for developing and approving new engine and vehicle projects. The tech center is expected to be completed by the middle of 2012 and add fifty direct and indirect new jobs. The hiring of local labor will be preferred for the new opportunities. Continental’s future tech center will occupy a total area of 2.400 square meters and will be equipped with chassis and engine bench dynamometers, a chemical laboratory, fuel tanks, a climatic pre-conditioning area and climatic chambers large enough to hold some average-sized cars at temperatures of minus 35 to 50 degrees centigrade. The technological center will operate on a two-shift basis, with the possibility to add a third shift according to the business demand.