“The increase in revenue is because of the new projects implemented at the seatbelt plant in Brasov and the airbag fabrics plant in Lugoj, as well as the increase in the volumes at the steering wheel facility in Sfantu Gheorghe,” explains Ionel Fierbinteanu, managing director of Autoliv Romania.
Sweden’s Autoliv group opened its first plant in Romania, which makes seatbelts and airbag systems, in Brasov in 1997, and invested EUR30 million in a second facility, this time in Lugoj, in 2007.
It later expanded by acquiring a 37,000 square meter plot in Sfantu Gheorghe from trousers manufacturer LRO of businessman Keresztes Zoltan in 2012. Autoliv has plants in Brasov, Prejmer, Lugoj, Sfantu Gheorghe and Resita, two engineering and development centers in Brasov and Timisoara, a European IT competency center and many support functions for the Autoliv subsidiaries in Romania and Europe.
Autoliv had almost 7,000 employees in Romania at the end of last year, and hired 1,250 more in the first half of 2015 alone.
Its revenue rose 14% to RON2.5 billion last year, and doubled compared with six years ago. Ionel Fierbinteanu expects sales to increase by 25% in the second half on the year-ago period.
Customers include BMW, Volkswagen, Renault, Ford and Daimler. Autoliv is the fourth largest exporter in Romania at the moment. (EUR1=RON4.4117)
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)