Autoliv’s New Safety Vent Airbag Wins Prestigious Industry Prize
(Stockholm, Sweden, April 17, 2007) – Autoliv Inc. (NYSE:ALV and SSE:ALIV), worldwide leader in automotive safety, today announced it has received a 2007 Automotive News PACE Award for its innovative Safety Vent Airbag technology developed at the company’s North American technical centers. The prestigious PACE (Premier Automotive Suppliers’ Contribution to Excellence) Award recognizes automotive suppliers for superior innovation, technological advancement and business performance.
“This award acknowledges the substantial effort our entire development team put into this product,” said John Newkirk, Manager of Frontal Airbag Module Development and project team leader. “It reflects our organization’s commitment to combine cutting-edge technology with cost-effective improvements that deliver on safety.”
The award-winning technology is designed to address the risk associated with airbags. Although airbags save thousands of lives every year, they could be unsafe for children, small females and other occupants in the front passenger seat who are “Out of Position”, that is, positioned too close to a deploying airbag.
To address these concerns, Autoliv developed an airbag with “safety vents” that perform automatic¬ally in a deployment (see illustration). If the occupant is at a safe distance to the airbag, two straps inside the bag will be stretched and close the additional Safety Vents like a drawstring on a laundry bag. However, if the occupant is too close to the deploying airbag, the Safety Vents on the sides of the bag will remain open to prevent the bag from being inflated, thereby providing a gentle deployment.
The cost-effective advanced airbag design was recently launched with DaimlerChrysler in North America, and OEMs have already signed up for more than 20 programs utilizing the technology.
An independent panel of distinguished judges -- including industry, academic and civic leaders -- evaluated the award applicants on the basis of ingenuity in product, design, engineering, manufactur¬ing and process.
This marks the second award for Autoliv during the 12 years of the Automotive News PACE Awards. Autoliv earned top recognition at the 2000 PACE Awards for its ASH-2 side impact inflator.
Illustrations: http://www.autoliv.com/alv/connect/Home/Media/Image+Bank
Inquiries:
Steve Fredin, Vice President Engineering, Autoliv Inc., +46 (0)8 587 20 679
John Newkirk, Manager Frontal Airbag Development, Autoliv North America, +1-801-625-7073