STOCKHOLM, Sweden, March 24, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- The sleds will have the capacity to perform a variety of crash tests ranging from individual seat belt tests to full car body tests that simulate crashes with complete cars at speeds up to 65 km/h (40 mph). The investment is driven by Autoliv's commitment to increase the levels of product development capability for vehicle safety systems throughout the region. Vehicle production in these five countries has grown by 65% during the last three years and is expected to grow another 35% to 12 million vehicles by 2006.
Two of the new sleds have already been commissioned in Thailand and Malaysia. Two further units will be installed in Autoliv plants in China, in Nanjing and Shanghai, and will become operational later this month and in September, respectively. The sled installations represent the first dynamic test capacity for these Autoliv companies, providing vehicle manufacturers in these regions with an independent facility for conformance verification and a significant resource for local applications development.
The fifth sled will be installed in Australia and will be operational soon. This unit is an upgraded replacement of an older model and will be integrated into the existing 'state of the art' technical center.
The final sled installation will be in Korea, later in 2004. The equipment is required to facilitate a large increase in seat belt orders for Autoliv Korea. This sled will provide a significant additional testing resource and augment the sophisticated modern crash test center already there.
Over the past two years, Autoliv has invested heavily in Asia Pacific. In 2002, a seat belt and airbag plant was opened in Korea. This plant is already reaching maximum capacity and Autoliv has acquired adjacent land to enable a significant expansion. In the same time frame, Autoliv has commenced airbag production in China -- the first to do so in that country. A new and expanded airbag plant is already under construction in that location, which will be Autoliv's sixth facility in China. Similarly, in Thailand and Malaysia Autoliv has significantly increased production capacity through construction projects during 2002 and 2003 in order to facilitate increasing sales demand.
Substantial investments have also been made in Japan. In 1999, a technical center was established north of Tokyo. A plant for the production of inflators for airbag systems followed in 2001. In 2000 Autoliv acquired Japan's second largest steering wheel company, and in 2003 acquired the second largest seat belt company in Japan.
As a result of its investments, Autoliv will double its consolidated sales in Asia over three years to be in excess of one billion U.S. dollars in 2005.
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