(Stockholm, Sweden, April 8, 2008) – – – To increase capacity and offset the continued customer pricing pressure, Autoliv Inc. – the worldwide leader in automotive safety systems – has completed construction work for a new plant in Guangzhou, China, replacing its old leased facility. This new larger facility will enable Autoliv to better serve and increase deliveries to vehicle manufacturers located in southern China, primarily Japanese customers like Toyota, Nissan and Honda.
The wholly-owned company, Autoliv (Guangzhou) Vehicle Safety Systems Co., Ltd., was established in 2005 operating from a leased plant. Autoliv has now completed the construction of a new plant not far from the old location, for manufacturing of airbags and seatbelts for the booming auto industry in China. Phase I of this plant has a building area of 8,000 square meters (86,111 square feet) and required a capital expenditure of $6.5 million, including manufacturing lines. Production capacity of this plant can be expanded in the future when needed with Phase II expansion. The resulting increased capacity from this new facility will strengthen Autoliv’s growth in the local Chinese market as well as support the ongoing cost reduction initiatives in high-cost countries.
Autoliv’s manufacturing capability has during the last years continuously expanded in low-cost countries to meet local demand as well as consolidating manufacturing from high cost countries. During the same period Autoliv has closed down plants in the United States, Sweden, France, the UK, the Netherlands and Japan. This has enabled Autoliv to remain competitive despite the pricing pressure in the automotive industry. As a result, Autoliv has been able to increase its sales by more than 50% during the last five years, thereby creating nearly 8,000 new jobs globally—an increase of nearly 25%.
Nine Chinese Plants
In China, Autoliv has nine manufacturing facilities located in the metropolitan areas of Guangzhou, Shanghai, Changchun, and Nanjing. In addition to the Guangzhou facility, Autoliv has five plants in the Shanghai area comprised of a seatbelt and airbag module plant, a weaving plant for seatbelt webbing, and three recently-opened plants for steering wheels, airbag inflators and safety electronics. Two plants in Changchun, for production of seatbelts and airbag modules, and one plant in Nanjing that manufactures seatbelts. In 2007, passenger vehicle production in China rose by 22% to 6.9 million units and is expected to exceed 12 million vehicles by 2013.
Inquiries:
Gunnar Dahlén, President Autoliv Asia Pacific, Phone +66-26698510
George Chang, President, Autoliv China, Phone +86-21-69169699 |
