Autoliv

Although cars today are much safer than 20 years ago, thousands of people are killed every year in traffic accidents, and nearly five million are seriously injured. Significant challenges remain to enhance the protection of people in cars and as pedestrians. At Autoliv, our business mission is to "develop and manufacture systems worldwide for the mitigation of injuries to automobile occupants and pedestrians, and for the avoidance of traffic accidents." In partnership with our customers we shall make today's safe cars even safer tomorrow. We have established such cooperation for new safety technologies with most of the major car manufacturers. It is based on the in-depth knowledge we gained by pioneering seatbelt technologies in the 1950s and '60s; airbag technologies in the 1970s and '80s; and side airbags in the 1990s. Through our continued commitment of investing in safety R&D (we shall invest over $200 million this year alone) it is not surprising that Autoliv has become the global market leader in automotive safety and the preferred safety specialist for car manufacturers around the world. We have achieved a lot but not yet enough. It's just as true as ever: your safety is our concern. Autoliv, Inc. is the largest producer of automotive safety equipment in the world. Its product lineup, manufactured at facilities in nearly 30 countries, includes air bags, seatbelts, child seats, and electronics. The company estimates these products save 20,000 lives a year. The company was formed by the 1997 merger of Sweden's Autoliv AB with U.S. air bag pioneer Morton ASP. Autoliv, Inc. is a spinoff of the Swedish company Autoliv AB, an early pioneer of seatbelts for automobiles in the 1950s. The company developed retractor belts and air bag inflators in the late 1960s. About the same time, another company, ASP, was pioneering air bag technology in the United States. (Autoliv would merge with ASP in 1997.) Autoliv began testing air bags in the United States in the late 1970s. Over the next decade and a half, Autoliv acquired related businesses in Sweden (Klippan Italia S.p.A.), Great Britain (Britax Overseas Ltd.; it also had operations in Germany and Australia), Germany (Autoflug Sicherheitstechnik GmbH), and India (IFB Industries). It also formed joint ventures with partners in Japan (Fuji Kiko, NSK), South Korea (Suskan Life Ind), and France (SNPE). Autoliv began producing its own air bag inflators in bulk in 1991. It introduced the first non-azide inflator the next year and also began producing its own air bag electronics. A number of developments in side airbags were rolled out during the 1990s. Autoliv produced nearly 30 million seatbelt units and more than one million air bag systems in 1993. By this time, Autoliv had manufacturing operations in ten countries concentrated in Europe, which accounted for 91 percent of sales. It also was involved in more than a dozen joint ventures. The company had 4,400 employees. Seatbelt products accounted for three-quarters of revenues, which rose 51 percent in 1993 to SEK 5.3 billion. Autoliv was Europe's largest manufacturer of auto safety equipment. Toward the end of 1994, Autoliv opened a new plant in Sweden to produce hybrid gas generators for air bags. They were less expensive to manufacture and were safer, since they deployed in two stages, the first of which corrected the occupant's sitting position. Autoliv continued to create global partnerships, forming a seatbelt joint venture in the Philippines with Qualibrand, a local company, and Autobelt of Malaysia in 1995. At about the same time, Autoliv launched a joint venture with Nanjing Honguang Airborne Equipment to produce steel safety belt parts in China. Also in 1995, the company acquired 49 percent of Isodelta SA of France, Europe's fourth leading steering wheels producer. A pair of Dutch auto parts suppliers, Hammarverken of Vaxjo and Hassleholms Automotive, were acquired from United Parts Group NV in 1996. The company went