In addition, Autoliv Korea acquired a 35% share of Mando in January and was renamed Autoliv Korea, becoming a company founded 100% on foreign investment. It is projected that the company will supply 8 million automobile products by 2010, twice the current production volume.
Autoliv Korea, who is celebrating the expansion of its plant on this day, was first established as Autoliv Mando Korea at Moonmak, Gangwon province in 2000 as a joint venture company, with Autoliv holding 65% and Mando holding 35% of the shares. The Company signed a MOU with Gyeonggi Province to construct the Hwasung Dontan plant in August 2001, and moved to the current Hwasung Dongtan plant in September 2002.
The plant was established on about 26,400 square meters of land (at an investment of KRW 12 billion) when first constructed in 2002, expanded for the second time in 2004, for the third time in April 2007 (39,600 square meters, an investment of KRW 46.3 billion), and is expected to complete construction by January 2008.
Autoliv Group, headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, is an automobile safety device manufacturer producing seatbelts, airbags, and electronic control systems. It is a multinational company engaging in state of the art industry that possesses 80 plants in about 30 countries and has hired 4,000 product R&D experts, under the corporate goal of supplying the best automobile safety devices and dramatically decreasing accidents and injuries.
The ceremony was joined by about 400 guests, including Kim Moon-soo, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, Gunnar Dahlèn, President of Autoliv Asia Pacific, Lee Sung-min, CEO of Autoliv Korea, Lars VARGÖ, Swedish Ambassador to Korea, Park Cheon-bok, provincial councilman, Jeon Jae-young, Chairman of Hwaseong City Council, Choi Young-geun, Mayor of Hwaseong, as well as Autoliv executives and employees, and local residents.
A Gyeonggi Province official said, “Continuous expansion of facilities and investment in Gyeonggi Province by Autoliv, a company globally recognized for its high quality and technology, as seen by its 50% global market share in safety belts and 60% domestic market share in airbags, will be of considerable help to enhancing the competitiveness of domestic companies producing completed cars.”