Autoliv (ALIV) Q4 2001 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Leading automotive occupant-restraint supplier with production facilities in 29 countries; 2001 sales were $4.0 billion, with roughly 28,000 employees and total headcount of ~31,800 including temporary staff.

• Product range spans airbags, seat belts, steering wheels, safety seats and related restraint components, serving almost all of the world’s largest automakers.

Financial highlights

• 2001 sales were $4.0 billion; airbags and associated products represented ~70% of sales and seat belts and associated products ~30%.

• Research, development and engineering expense was $200.8 million in 2001, versus $195.7 million in 2000 and $197.3 million in 1999.

Outlook and guidance

• Automakers are expected to continue demanding staged product-price reductions; long-term supply contracts may include fixed or maximum prices, making cost reduction central to future profitability.

• U.S. advanced-restraint rules phase in from 35% of light vehicles in model year 2004 to 65% the following model year and 100% in the third; the rules are expected to raise frontal-airbag system prices and expand the North American market.