Autoliv, Inc. Business Report FY ended Dec. 2013

Business Highlights

Financial Overview

(in million USD)
FY ended Dec. 31, 2013 FY ended Dec. 31, 2012 Rate of
change (%)
Factors
Overall
Sales 8,803 8,267 6.5 1)
Operating income 761 705 7.9 -
Sales by Product
Airbags and associated products *1 5,686 5,392 5.5 2)
Seatbelts and associated products *2 2,773 2,657 4.4
Active safety products 345 218 58.3

*1: Includes sales of steering wheels, passive safety electronics, inflators and initiators.
*2: Includes sales of seat components.

Factors

1) Overall
-Net sales for 2013 (USD 8,803 million) rose by 6.5% year on year, which compares favorably to the growth of "more than 5%", expected at the beginning of the fourth quarter 2013. All areas of the Company showed sales growth for the full year with sales in China and of Active Safety products as the two individually most significant contributors. Together these two areas represented 70% of the Company's organic sales growth in 2013.

2) By products
Airbag
-Sales of airbag products were favorably impacted by higher volumes of steering wheels, knee airbags, pedestrian protection airbags and passive safety electronics.

Seatbelt
-Sales of seatbelt products were particularly strong in China and South America. The reported sales were negatively affected by 0.6% from the divestiture of Autoliv Mekan AB in 2012.

Active safety
-The strong increase in sales of Active Safety products resulted from growth in all areas of this business. Sales of radar related products were particularly strong, largely as a result of Mercedes' decision to introduce Collision Preventive Assist (CPA) across most of its platforms. Sales of vision systems to BMW and night vision to Mercedes also contributed to the growth.

Factors by geographic area
-For the full year net sales 2013 (USD 8.803 million), sales in Asia (China, Japan, Rest of Asia) represent 34%, the Americas 33% and Europe 33%. Asia marked the largest region for the first time.

Major Contracts

-The Company announced that eight five-star vehicles, highlighted by Euro NCAP (New Car Assessment Program) crash tests of 2012, are equipped with passive and active safety products from the Company. The eight best vehicles in 2012 are Renault "Clio", Volvo "V40", Fiat "500L", Ford "Kuga", Ford "B-MAX", Hyundai "Santa Fe", BMW "3-Series", and Ford "Transit". Between them the vehicles feature the full range of the Company's products, from side, and frontal airbags, inflatable curtains, pedestrian protection airbags, steering wheels, passive safety electronics and seatbelts to the latest in active safety technology. (From a press release on January 30, 2013)

-The Company announced that its Night Vision system is the driving force behind the newly released BMW "Dynamic Light Spot" pedestrian illumination system. The Dynamic Light Spot utilizes sensors and cameras designed by the Company to actively spotlight pedestrians on the side of the roadway. As a result, motorists will be able to identify potential hazards at a greater distance. The BMW Dynamic Light Spot allows drivers to see pedestrians without taking their eyes off the road. (From a press release on January 15, 2013)

-Other major contracts
Maker / Model Products
Jeep's new "Cherokee" Inflatable curtains, side airbags, seatbelt with pretensioners and radar system
The new "Mini" Steering wheel with driver airbag, knee airbag, inflatable curtains, side airbags, seatbelts with pretensioners and vision system
Mercedes's new "S-Class" Steering wheel with driver airbag, pelvic restraint cushion, active seatbelts with pretensioners, bag-in-belt, cable cutters, night vision and radar system
Chevrolet's new "Silverado" Steering wheel with driver airbag and side airbags
The new "Range Rover Sport" Passenger's airbag, side airbags, active seatbelts with pretensioners and safety electronics
Citroen's new "C4 Picasso" Steering wheel with driver airbag, passenger airbag, safety electronics, active seatbelts with pre-pretensioners and seatbelts with pretensioners
BMW's new "X5" Active seatbelts with pretensioners, night vision and vision system
Peugeot's new "308" Steering wheel with driver airbag, passenger airbag, seatbelts with pretensioners and safety electronics
Nissan's new "X-Trail/Rogue" Inflatable curtains, side airbags and safety electronics

Awards

-The Company has received Volvo Car Corporation's Excellence award for the development of the worlds-first pedestrian protection airbag. The new airbag first debuted on the Volvo V40/XC40 and contributed to Volvo achieving a top result in the EuroNCAP crash testing evaluation. (From a press release on December 30, 2013)

-The Company was honored with the "Supplier of the Year" prize at the Fiat Chrysler award ceremony. The Company currently supplies radar systems, airbags, seatbelts, steering wheels and safety electronics to the Fiat Chrysler group. In 2012, Fiat Chrysler accounted for 7% of the Company's global sales. (From a press release on November 18, 2013)

Outlook for FY ending Dec. 31, 2014

-For the full year 2014, the Company's indication is for organic sales growth of around 5% year on year and an operating margin of around 9%, excluding costs for capacity alignments and antitrust investigations.

R&D

R&D Expenditure

(in million USD)
FY ended Dec. 31, 2013 FY ended Dec. 31, 2012 FY ended Dec. 31, 2011
Total 634 598 568
% of Sales 7.2 7.2 6.9

R&D Structure

-The Company has 5,000 people in Research, Product development and Application engineering.
-The Company holds technical centers in 9 countries.
-No single project accounts for more than 3% of the total R&D spending.

Product Developments

Vision sensing system
-The Company has developed a Stereo Vision Sensing (SVS) system. The existing Mono Vision Systems (MVS) have one camera which is used for such functions as Speed Sign Recognition, Lane Departure Warnings, and even Autonomous Emergency Braking. By adding another camera in tandem with the first camera, the system can provide a three dimensional view of the area in front of a vehicle. As a result, the Company's Stereo Vision System can – in just one single measurement cycle – calculate the distance to different objects in front of the vehicle and determine the shape and the size of them. The new system will calculate the direction and speed of objects moving closer to the vehicle. As a result, the Stereo Vision System is able to predict if, for instance, a pedestrian is at risk of being hit by the vehicle and warn the driver or brake the car. The Company's Stereo Vision System has a field of view of 50 degrees and can recognize objects within 120 meters. The Company will start deliveries of the system in 2015 to European premium vehicle model. (From a press release on May 14, 2013)

Seatbelt
-The Company announced that it has developed a new seatbelt Bag-in-belt, in cooperation with Daimler. The new seatbelt is first offered on the Mercedes "S-class". The Bag-in-belt is a combination of a seatbelt and an airbag to further reduce the load on the occupant's rib cage in a frontal collision. Similar to an airbag deployment, a gas generator inflates the multi-layered webbing. This results in a three times larger surface area that better distributes the crash force on the occupant to reduce the risk of injury. (From a press release on January 16, 2013)

Integration of Active and Passive safety-Electronic Control Unit
-The Company has developed the world's first Integrated Inertial Measurement Unit that combines the controls of the vehicle's restraint system with those controls for the vehicle's brakes that can provide Electronic Stability Control (ESC), Anti-locking Brakes (ABS) and Automatic Traction Control (ATC). This merger of the control systems will be launched in 2014.

-The Company is developing a next generation system to monitor the environment around the vehicle and control the vehicle motion. The Electronic Safety Domain Controller (ESDC) links all safety sensors and all actuators that control vehicle motion.

Patents

-In 2011, (the latest year with official statistics) the Company accounted for 8% of all new patent filings in passive automotive safety filed in more than one country.

-The Company holds more than 6,600 patents covering a wide range of innovations and products in automotive safety and key supporting technologies. (As of December 31, 2013)

Investment Activities

Capital Expenditure

(in million USD)
FY ended Dec. 31, 2013 FY ended Dec. 31, 2012 FY ended Dec. 31, 2011
Total 379 360 357
% of sales 4.3 4.4 4.3

-Capital expenditures for 2014 are expected to be 4.5% - 5.0% of sales to support the increasing need for manufacturing capacity in China and other growth markets.

Investment Outside Sweden

<China>
-The Company will invest around USD 50 million in a textile center in China. The new center is needed to meet the strong demand for airbags in China and other Asian markets. The textile center will consist of a weaving plant, an airbag cushion plant and a development center.
  • The weaving plant will have a floor space of more than 8,000 square meters (almost 100,000 square feet) and have around 150 employees.
  • A separate building of similar size will be constructed at the same site for airbag cushion manufacturing. This is a relocation from an existing site in the Shanghai area, allowing the current site to expand its airbag module manufacturing capacity. This airbag cushion operation will have around 1000 employees.
  • Furthermore, a co-located development center for airbag cushion and textile will be created. It will focus on standardized designs for the Asia region. (From a press release on June 28, 2013)
<Thailand>
-The Company has begun the construction of an airbag manufacturing plant in Chonburi. The new facility will be located adjacent to the Company's current airbag facility in Thailand. The new facility will be 4,800 square meters and the investment amount is USD 3 million. The launch of the new facility is planned for September 2013. (From a press release on May 8, 2013)