Autoliv 'ramping up for millions' in replacement airbag inflators, exec says

A senior Autoliv Inc. executive said the Swedish airbag supplier is preparing to expand annual inflator production capacity by millions of units to meet demand for replacements.“We are stepping up,” said Steve Fredin, Autoliv’s group vice president of engineering and sales. “We are ramping up for millions” of additional units.Autoliv will need six months to expand production, Fredin said.In a Friday phone interview with Automotive News, Fredin noted that Autoliv is boosting production with the expectation that it will supply multiple customers -- not just Honda Motor Co.Autoliv is talking to other automakers, Fredin said. “The whole industry is scrambling. No one knows where this is going.”On Wednesday, Autoliv announced plans to produce replacement inflators for Honda. “In the current difficult situation with a very high level of field actions and recalls in the market we are doing our utmost to support our customers,” Autoliv CEO Jan Carlson said in a statement Wednesday.“With quality as our first priority we are assessing the current and upcoming market needs in order to match our delivery capabilities in the best possible way.”Autoliv has not indicated how many inflators it will produce for Honda, but it seems likely to be a major purchase.Earlier today, Honda estimated that its expanded nationwide recall would add 3.2 million units to its list of vehicles that require new driver-side inflators. With the new recall, that list now totals 6 million vehicles.More than 16 million vehicles with Takata airbags have been recalled globally since 2008, according to Reuters’ calculations.In addition to Autoliv, TRW Automotive and Daicel are likely to get some inflator replacement business. But replacement inflators won’t come cheap. Booming North American vehicle production has pushed up demand for airbags.Fredin reiterated his earlier estimate that it would cost Autoliv $30 million to $50 million to add enough production capacity to produce 15 million additional inflators per year.

Autoliv 'ramping up for millions' in replacement airbag inflators, exec says

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