Mando Corp., auto parts making unit of South Korea’s large conglomerate Halla Group, celebrated the 30th anniversary of the launch of its winter driving test system.

“Thirty years of winter test in Mando’s 56-year history underscore the company’s strong commitment towards the safety of drivers and passengers, representing the essence of the company’s technology,” Chung Mong-won, chairman of Halla Group, said at a celebration event held on Wednesday (local time) in Arjeplog, a rural village in northern Sweden where the Korean company runs one of auto parts test sites against harsh winter weather.

About 80 officials attended the event including Sture Lestander, chairman of Colmis AB, Britta Flinkfeldt, mayor of Arjeplog, and Hwang Yin-yong, chief executive of Halla Holdings Co.

Through a winter test, Mando checks the performance of its components in a harsh environment such as snow-covered road and receives the final nod from its customers, mainly global finished car makers.

Mando - Korea’s first car component manufacturer to carry out a winter test - aggressively invested 60 billion won ($56 million) in 1989, which is almost one third of its auto parts sales of 200 billion won at the time, to launch testing for its anti-lock braking system. Mando started with only four cars and 10 researchers but now, 30 years later, its winter test has expanded to involve about 100 vehicles and 120 researchers.

Arjeplog is a popular location for the test of auto components and vehicles against brutal winter conditions. Mando’s site in Arjeplog, located about 500 kilometers north of Sweden’s capital Stockholm, is best known for optimum weather conditions and diverse road surface. The village also serves as a winter testing site for many other global automakers and component manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz, Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW), Hyundai Motor, and Kia Motors. Mando also operates winter testing sites in Heihe, China and Wanaka, New Zealand.

This year, 12 customers of Mando including Ford, General Motors, BMW, Volkswagen, Audi, and Jaguar Land Rover visited the winter site in Arjeplog to check performance of its products.

By Lee Seung-hoon and Lee Eun-joo

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