While the Swedish Rally is at full throttle in central Sweden with competitors tearing round snowy forests in the full glare of the media, many 100 kilometers north on similar terrain an altogether more secretive automotive event is in full swing.

A booming industry in the winter testing of new cars and their components has emerged in northern Sweden, one of Europe's most extreme environments. In an area that straddles the Arctic Circle, where the mercury can plunge to -40C, (although it's rare, it can go down to -50C) the latest in cutting-edge automotive technology is put through its paces on remote roads and frozen lakes marked out by tracks resembling icy crop circles.

The population of some northern towns almost doubles each testing season as engineers and technicians pour in from around the world. They are welcomed by local residents to whom this growing industry has been a salvation, creating jobs and generating trade for shops, restaurants and hotels. But in the wake of the testers comes their nemesis, the hated spy photographer on a mission to get pictures the motoring press are willing to pay big money for.

Extreme - but still accessible: The theory behind winter testing is that if it works in these conditions, it will work anywhere. The first tests were carried out in northern Sweden more than 30 years ago, and the automotive industry quickly realised the benefits of subjecting their machines to the worst nature can throw at them. On circular ice tracks or 500km endurance drives through dark, isolated forests, manufacturers test everything on a car, from the tyres up.

Michael Åhman, a veteran motoring journalist who was raised in Arvidsjaur, one of the main testing centres, says, "They have tried doing some of these tests on simulators, but it doesn't work as well. Mother Nature has a special kind of ice, and you have to do testing 'live'."

When testing first started, manufacturers mainly focused on functions - that locks didn't freeze up and so on - but today it is often electronic components that are under scrutiny.

But why Sweden? "It is closer to the big European manufacturers than Canada or Russia," Åhman says. "Then there's the infrastructure. Here you have a bigger system of roads than in, say, Canada. And it's not so far between cities. Here you have some kind of social life after testing - it's not all work."

Paparazzi frozen out: Despite high fences and security guards patrolling on snow scooters, there are fewer possibilities to shield testing from prying eyes in Sweden. Spy photographers, who can earn 250,000 crowns (about Dh122,655) for just one syndicated picture, are a constant thorn in the side of testers. "The most famous spy photographer, Hans Lehmann, can't come here anymore," Åhman says. "When he comes all the cars are stowed away in garages and testing stops."

Local businesses are provided with "wanted lists" of known photographers, who operate a kind of neighborhood watch to alert each other to the presence of the enemy.

It is easy to see why they are so keen to protect an industry that has become a lifeline for the region. "Northern Sweden has had some problems with employment," Åhman says. "But testing has been a salvation for these towns."

Booming industry: Per-Gunnar Sundström, chairman of the Swedish Proving Ground Association, says the 2002-03 season generated about 225 million crowns (about Dh110 million) for the local testing industry, plus a further 700 million crowns (about Dh343 million) for other businesses in the area. Car testing provides several hundred jobs for local people in an area where there are few employment opportunities outside tourism and the forestry industry.

"When they closed down the only mine in Arjeplog four years ago, 90 per cent of all industrial jobs in the community disappeared," Sundström says. "It was a catastrophe. But the growth in testing over the same period means the effects of the closure have not been nearly as bad as feared."

Substantial investments recently made in testing facilities in northern Sweden by the likes of Bosch and Hyundai Mobis mean the region looks set to remain a magnet for automotive manufacturers for some time to come - and those pesky spies.

This article was originally published on Sweden.se - the official gateway to Sweden.

By David Wiles

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