To support the rapid growth in vehicle production and airbag fitment rates in Asia, Autoliv has begun the construction of an airbag manufacturing plant in Chonburi, 70km east of Bangkok. 

The new facility will be located adjacent to Autoliv’s current airbag facility in Thailand and will be set up as a campus concept with shared resources. The new facility will be 4,800sqm. The launch of the new facility is planned for September 2013. Investment in this plant is US $3 million.

Forecasted airbag module volume in 2013 is 1.5 million units with volume expected to increase to 3.5 million units by 2015. This represents a 10% increase in Autoliv’s Asian airbag manufacturing capacity of 32 million in 2012. 

Autoliv expects further increase in airbag fitment rates as the new ASEAN NCAP program takes effect in the coming years.