Seatbelt maker Autoliv fabricates new plants in Romania
27 Oct '05
2 min read
Airbag system developer Autoliv Inc opens its new plants in Romania.
After only eight months of construction work, Autoliv Romania, a subsidiary of Autoliv Inc the worldwide leader in automotive safety inaugurated two new production facilities on its premises in Brasov.
One of the new facilities, a weaving plant, will increase Autoliv's annual capacity for seatbelt webbing for the European market by 20 percent. The second facilities will double Autoliv's seat belt manufacturing capacity in Romania.
Total capital expenditures for these two facilities amount to approximately $22 million.
The extension of the seatbelt manufacturing area amounts to 11,800 square meters (approx. 127,000 square feet), while the new webbing plant covers an area of 6,400 sqm. (approx. 69,000 sqf.). These expansions will create 700 new jobs in addition to the 500 job positions Autoliv already has in Romania.
In addition, Autoliv is in the process of constructing a third new plant in Romania, as previously announced. This manufacturing facility is located on the same site as the other Autoliv facilities in Romania. The third new plant will produce inflators for airbags and have a floor space of 10,000 sqm. after its completion in February 2006.
Autoliv Romania was established in 1997 with the initial purpose to serve local Romanian customers such as Dacia – a subsidiary of Renault – and Daewoo. However, the new company turned out to be an excellent manufacturing alternative for Autoliv companies in West European countries and became instrumental in Autoliv's strategy to move production to low cost countries.