Autoliv Introduces High Performance Reversible Seatbelt System - Shows Significant Advantages in Multiple Collision Impacts

STOCKHOLM, Sweden--(Business Wire)--
Regulatory News:

Autoliv Inc. - the worldwide leader in automotive safety - presents a new safety
system innovation at the 21st Conference Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV) in
Stuttgart, Germany. It is a new high performance reversible pre-pretensioner
system for seatbelts that resets itself automatically after triggering. During a
multiple collision impact, the high performance system will pull back the
occupants during the usually softer first impact to allow more optimum
protection from the airbags and seatbelts in secondary impacts.

The enhanced system is a pneumatically actuated reversible seatbelt
pre-pretensioner. The belt pretensioning force comes from a compressed air motor
and generates more than twice the tension forces provided by conventional
electric pre-pretensioners. The higher force significantly improves the
performance especially in multiple impact collisions. During the first impact,
which can be relatively soft and without an airbag deployment, the occupant is
pulled back into an up-right, safe position, thanks to the high force applied
from the pneumatic pretensioner. With such a seatbelt system the occupant can be
considerably better positioned for the second, more violent, impact when the
airbag deploys for additional occupant protection.

Autoliv accident research data indicates that 25% of all accidents are of
multiple impact nature. They result in a 3-times higher risk for significant
injuries to vehicle occupants and a 4-times higher risk for fatal injuries.

Studies by Autoliv Research indicate that the average time-gap between the first
and the second impact is approximately one second. Thanks to the higher force
(300N) of the pneumatic system the pre- pretensioner needs only 0.36 seconds to
pull the occupant back into a near upright position. The higher force will allow
the seatbelt to pull back the occupant in 90% of the cases before a potential
subsequent impact.

Interested participants can experience the performance of the pneumatic seatbelt
pretensioner in a demo car at the ESV-conference. Two other pneumatically
reversible safety functions are also shown in the demo-car: A hood lifter for
pedestrian protection and a seatbelt buckle presenter which makes it easier to
attach the belt when buckling up.

The ESV conference is the largest worldwide and most important congress on car
safety and takes place every second year in different locations around the
globe. The ESV program was founded in 1968 on the initiative of the U.S.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) aiming to reduce the
traffic fatalities.

About Autoliv

Autoliv Inc., the worldwide leader in automotive safety systems, develops and
manufactures automotive safety systems for all major automotive manufacturers in
the world. Together with its joint ventures, Autoliv has ~80 facilities with
~34,000 associates in 31 countries. In addition, the Company has 13 technical
centers in 11 countries around the world, including 21 crash test tracks, more
than any other automotive safety supplier. Sales in 2008 amounted to US $6.5
billion. The Company`s shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:
ALV) and its Swedish Depository Receipts on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm (SSE: ALIV
SDB).

This information was brought to you by Cision http://www.cisionwire.com

Henrik Kaar, Director Corporate Communications
Autoliv Inc., Tel +46-(0)8 587 20 614
or
Ray Pekar, Director Business Development and
Investor Relations, Autoliv Inc.
Tel +1-519-973-3799

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