Autoliv Expands in India Starts weaving of seatbelt webbing
(Stockholm, October 7, 2010) --- In response to the rapid growth in Asian vehicle production, Autoliv Inc. (NYSE: ALV and SSE: ALIV) – the worldwide leader in automotive safety systems – has begun the construction of a seatbelt weaving plant in Mysore near Bangalore, which will be India’s first plant for this seatbelt component.
Currently, most seatbelt webbing is imported from Autoliv’s plant in China. However, demand in Asia has grown so sharply during the last few years that more webbing capacity is urgently needed in the region.
The Mysore webbing plant will have capacity to produce 100 million meters of webbing when the floor space of 10.000 square meters (sqm) will be fully utilized. In the initial phase, the plant will have 65 employees and 180 employees when all investments in highly automated weaving looms have been completed. The cost for the initial phase amounts to approximately 10 million U.S. dollars, which includes the cost for the 24,000 sqm site.
The new weaving facility will produce state-of-the-art seatbelt webbing. The webbing is a very important and complex component in the seatbelt system. It has to have high strength combined with a certain elongation, without causing a rubber-band effect. At the same time, the webbing should have low friction and prevent twisting to provide comfort and safety.
The new plant will increase Autoliv’s global weaving capacity for seatbelt webbing by 20% to more than 0.5 billion meters (or approximately 12 laps around the earth). Currently, Autoliv has five webbing plants (in The Netherlands, Romania, Canada, China and Brazil). Autoliv estimates that its existing plants account for more than 40% of the annual global seatbelt webbing production. The customers of these plants include not only Autoliv’s own seatbelt system assembly plants but also assembly plants of other seatbelt manufacturers.
According to industry estimates Indian light vehicle production doubled during the past five years (to 2.4 million last year from 1.2 million in 2004) and is expected to double again during the current five-year period to 5 million by 2014.
Inquiries:
Jan Carlson, President & CEO, Autoliv Inc. Tel. +46-8-587 20 600
Devan Gopalan, General Manager – Webbing Plant, Autoliv India Pvt Ltd., Tel +91-974 124-6964
About Autoliv
Autoliv Inc., the worldwide leader in automotive safety systems, develops and manufactures automotive safety systems for all major automotive manufacturers in the world. Together with its joint ventures, Autoliv has 80 facilities with more than 41,000 employees in 28 vehicle-producing countries. In addition, the Company has technical centers in eleven countries around the world, with 21 test tracks, more than any other automotive safety supplier. Sales in 2010 are expected to grow to by nearly 35% to US $6.9 billion. The Company's shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: ALV) and its Swedish Depository Receipts on the OMX Nordic Exchange in Stockholm (ALIV sdb). For more information about Autoliv, please visit our company website at www.autoliv.com.
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