STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Jan. 8, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) (Stockholm:ALIV):
"The new plant meets our need for additional production capacity as well as our aim of reducing costs by moving labor-intensive production to low-labor-cost countries," said Lars Westerberg, Autoliv's President and Chief Executive Officer.
"Over the past three years, we have moved more than 5,000 jobs to those countries," he continued. "As a result, we currently have close to 30% of our employees in low-labor-cost countries, compared to less than 10% in 1999. At the same time, we have grown also in high-cost countries by investing in new sophisticated, high-value-added safety systems."
The new plant will add almost 5% to Autoliv's European seat belt capacity. The plant is already certified for the new ISO/TS 16949 quality management standard, and has a well-trained workforce with an average age of 26 years. The number of employees will be doubled from the current level of nearly 200 people.
The plant will produce seat belts as a sub-contractor to Autoliv Germany, delivering mainly to BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Ford, Opel and Volkswagen.
The new plant encompasses 37,000 square meters of land and 5,000 square meters of building space, mainly for manufacturing and warehousing.
Inquiries:
Lars Westerberg, President & CEO Autoliv Inc. Tel. +46 (8) 587 20 600 Rolf Henke, Managing Director Autoliv GmbH Tel. +49 (4121) 797-215
Autoliv Inc. develops and manufactures automotive safety systems for all major automotive manufacturers in the world. Together with its joint ventures Autoliv has close to 80 facilities with almost 30,000 employees in more than 30 vehicle-producing countries. In addition, the company has technical centers in ten countries with 20 test tracks, more than any other automotive safety supplier. Sales in 2001 amounted to U.S. $4 billion. The company's shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:ALV) and its Swedish Depositary Receipts on the OM Stockholm Stock Exchange (SSE:ALIV).
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