Airbag and seatbelt manufacturer Autoliv said greater sales of large vehicles should compensate for a downturn in business with Toyota.
According to Swedish media reports, Autoliv believes it can make up the shortfall caused by Toyota’s recall of millions of its vehicles. Autoliv is a supplier to Toyota in Japan and the US.
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“All in all, for us as an auto safety supplier we should not be affected that much by this,” chief executive Jan Carlson said.
He added Europe – the group’s largest market – had seen healthy sales of vehicles using Autoliv safety equipment.
“The positive mix we’ve had from the end of 2008 and through 2009 is continuing in 2010,” he said. “And if we look at the platforms where we are big – in France sales were strong in the month of February – things look good.”
The end of Germany’s scrappage scheme has made the market challenging but Carlson said Autoliv was seeing the advantages of better large car sales.
“The premium segment is doing relatively better in Germany and that trend is holding firm with the mix shifting toward a greater share of premium cars,” he is reported as saying.
He added Autoliv expected to increase sales in China to US$700m in 2012 from about $400m last year.
