Autoliv has opened a new, larger plant in Malaysia on the back of a 25% sales increase last year.
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The new facility will also improve operational efficiency by relocating two joint ventures into the new building. Currently, Autoliv-Hirotako Safety which manufactures seat belts and Autoliv-Hirotako SRS which manufactures airbags, are operating on separate sites.
The new facility is 14,500 square metres (approx. 160,000 sq. ft) on a 45,500 square metres (0,5 million sq.ft) site. It is located about 25 kilometres south of Kuala Lumpur.
In total, Autoliv and its joint ventures have 400 employees in Malaysia. In addition to seat belts and airbags, the operations manufacture steering wheels and webbing for seat belts. The customers are BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Perodua, Proton, Suzuki, Toyota and Volvo.
Autoliv expects to double consolidated sales in Asia in three years to one billion dollars by 2005. Light vehicle production in Malaysia has increased by more than 30% since 2000 to 470,000 last year.
