stockrowWhat it does
Autoliv develops, manufactures and supplies automotive safety systems, principally to car manufacturers. Its products are designed to protect people during a collision rather than prevent the collision itself. They include airbags, seatbelts, steering wheels and the components used to make them. Autoliv was founded in 1953 and has its headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden. Mikael Bratt is its president and chief executive officer.
An airbag module combines a cushion, an inflator and a container. It inflates rapidly during an impact to cushion and restrain an occupant. Autoliv also makes seatbelts with technologies such as pretensioners and load limiters, as well as systems intended to protect pedestrians.
The company has expanded beyond passenger vehicles through its Mobility Safety Solutions business. Its offerings include safety systems for commercial vehicles, battery cut-off switches, and safety products for motorcycle and bicycle riders. It also offers a virtual human-body-model platform that helps automakers evaluate occupant protection through crash simulations.
Autoliv operates as a holding company with two principal subsidiaries, Autoliv AB and Autoliv ASP, Inc. It had 62 production facilities in 23 countries and approximately 64,300 personnel worldwide at December 31, 2025.
How it makes money
Autoliv earns revenue by supplying safety products for vehicle models and platforms. It manages the business as one reportable segment, principally covering airbags, including steering wheels and inflators, and seatbelts. It also receives reimbursements for customer-funded engineering projects and crash tests.
Net sales were $10.8 billion in 2025 and $2.7 billion in the third quarter of 2026.
In 2025, approximately 68% of sales consisted of airbag and steering wheel products and approximately 32% consisted of seatbelt products. The amount Autoliv can sell depends partly on the number of vehicles its customers produce and partly on the safety content installed in each vehicle. More airbags or more advanced seatbelts can increase that content.
Autoliv generally enters frame contracts with automakers before a model or platform starts production. A delivery contract typically lasts for the life of the vehicle model, including service parts after production ends. Customer orders and production schedules then determine deliveries. These contracts do not typically guarantee minimum quantities, firm prices or exclusivity, and automakers can move products to other suppliers.
That structure can generate deliveries over a model’s life, but volumes vary with production and demand for the model. Customers also put pricing pressure on suppliers. Autoliv seeks customer compensation for some cost increases, including tariffs and inflation, while pursuing productivity and cost reductions. In 2025, some gross research, development and engineering expenditure related to customer-funded projects and crash tests reimbursed by customers.
Customers and how it sells
Autoliv sells to vehicle manufacturers around the world, delivering restraint systems to their assembly operations. Its customers include Toyota, Suzuki, Stellantis and Chery. It also supplies components, especially inflators, to FinDreams Technology, which supplies passive safety systems within BYD.
The company depends on a limited number of large customers with substantial purchasing power. Its products were supplied to more than 1,400 vehicle models and around 100 car brands. Asian automakers are an important customer group, including Japanese and Chinese manufacturers.
Autoliv conducts business in the Americas, Europe, China and Asia excluding China. In 2025, Europe accounted for 29% of sales, the Americas for 32%, Asia excluding China for 20%, and China for 19%. Those regional sales figures reflect where Autoliv sells, rather than necessarily where the finished vehicles are ultimately sold.
The company generally delivers on a just-in-time basis, requiring final assembly or distribution close to customer facilities. It has invested in manufacturing and research capacity to serve Chinese automakers and the Indian market. Chinese automakers accounted for 58% of Autoliv’s sales in China in the third quarter of 2026, compared with 46% for the same period a year earlier.
Suppliers and costs
Autoliv purchases manufactured components and raw materials, while also making components in its own factories. Its component plants produce items such as inflators, propellant, textile cushions, webbing and steel parts. Assembly plants source components from Autoliv and outside parties, then assemble restraint systems for just-in-time delivery.
The company uses a range of materials and components, nearly all generally available from several qualified suppliers. It also has single-source supplier relationships; disruption to those relationships could harm profitability. Autoliv uses competitive sourcing and looks for alternative materials to manage fluctuations in raw-material costs.
Direct material cost represented approximately 54% of net sales in 2025. Gross research, development and engineering expenditures were $616 million in 2025, including customer-funded work. Labor costs, production capacity and logistics also affect costs. Adjusting capacity when vehicle production shifts can be costly and can affect operating margin.
In the third quarter of 2026, raw-material costs had a gross negative impact of $42 million, with nonferrous metals and oil-related components accounting for most of the increase. Autoliv seeks customer compensation and supplier savings alongside its own efficiency measures.
- Revenue$10.8B
- Cost of revenue−$8.7B
- Research and development−$413.0M
- Selling, general and administrative−$571.0M
- Operating income$1.1B
Competitive position
Autoliv competes in the global market for passive safety systems. It estimates its global market share at around 44% in 2025. ZF AG and Joyson Safety Systems are among its large competitors. Local suppliers also compete, often with close relationships to domestic vehicle manufacturers.
In Japan, Tokai Rika supplies Toyota with seatbelts, while Toyoda Gosei supplies airbags and steering wheels. Mobis supplies Hyundai/Kia in South Korea. BYD sources passive safety systems through its FinDreams Technology subsidiary, although Autoliv also supplies components to FinDreams. Other competitors include Nihon Plast and Ashimori in Japan, Yanfeng and Jinheng in China, Samsong in South Korea, and Chris Cintos de Seguranca in South America.
Autoliv relies on patents to protect its automotive safety technology and has production and engineering operations across multiple countries. Its factories and distribution centers support delivery close to customer plants. It also works with customers on vehicle programs before production begins.
Our reading: Its geographic footprint is a meaningful competitive asset because automakers need nearby, just-in-time supply across production locations. Our reading: Technology and patents support differentiation, although their protection can be challenged. Our reading: Long vehicle-program relationships provide opportunities for continuing deliveries, but they are not exclusive and do not typically guarantee volumes.
| Competitor | Where they compete | Threat (our reading) |
|---|---|---|
| ZF AG | Global automotive passive safety technologies | High |
| Joyson Safety Systems | Global automotive passive safety systems | High |
| Tokai Rika | Seatbelts for Toyota, particularly in Japan | Medium |
| Toyoda Gosei | Airbags and steering wheels for Toyota, particularly in Japan | Medium |
| Mobis | Passive safety supply to Hyundai/Kia in South Korea | Medium |
| FinDreams Technology | In-house passive safety supply for BYD | Medium |
| Nihon Plast | Passive safety in Japan | Low |
| Ashimori | Passive safety in Japan | Low |
Growth opportunities
Autoliv identifies two principal drivers of its market: light vehicle production and the amount of safety equipment installed per vehicle. It can pursue business on vehicle platforms and develop products with additional safety features. New regulations, crash-test ratings and consumer demand can influence automakers’ choices of airbags and seatbelts.
The company estimates that the annual passive safety market, including seatbelts, airbags and steering wheels, was around $24 billion in 2025 and expects it to reach almost $26 billion over the next three years. It also believes the global automotive safety market should grow around 1-2 percentage points per year faster than global light vehicle production in the medium and long term, excluding cost-inflation-related price increases.
Autoliv is investing in manufacturing and engineering capacity for Chinese automakers and in India. Chinese automakers accounted for 30% of its total order intake value in 2025. The company has opened a second research and development center in China and launched a virtual human-body-model safety suite.
The company is also pursuing products beyond conventional passenger-vehicle restraints, including commercial-vehicle safety systems and battery cut-off switches. In the third quarter of 2026, adoption of front-center airbags and pedestrian protection systems contributed to higher content per vehicle in new launches. Autoliv expects flat organic sales for 2026 while global light vehicle production declines by 2%.
- $8.2BFY2021
- $8.8BFY2022
- $10.5BFY2023
- $10.4BFY2024
- $10.8BFY2025
Structural risks
- Vehicle production: Automotive sales and production are cyclical. Autoliv’s sales depend on global production and on production by its customers, while the loss or weak sales of a vehicle model can reduce its revenue.
- Customer leverage: Autoliv depends on a few large customers with strong purchasing power and faces pricing pressure. Its contracts generally do not promise fixed quantities or exclusivity, and customers can resource products to other suppliers.
- Product quality: Defective products, or allegations that products failed to perform, can lead to product liability, warranty and recall claims involving Autoliv or its customers.
- Supply and delivery: Supply-chain disruption, including disruption involving single-source suppliers, can hurt profitability or delay customer production. Just-in-time delivery leaves vehicle assembly operations dependent on timely components.
- Costs and trade: Material, labor and logistics costs can pressure margins. Tariffs, sanctions and geopolitical conflicts can disrupt the supply chain, and Autoliv’s ability to recover tariff costs from customers is uncertain.
- Technology and regulation: Changes in safety regulations, crash-test ratings or competing technologies can affect demand for safety content or make some products obsolete. Patent challenges or infringement claims could impair Autoliv’s ability to compete.
Bottom line
Our reading
Our reading: Autoliv is a vehicle-production-dependent safety supplier with long program relationships, a broad manufacturing footprint and opportunities to sell more safety content per vehicle. Those relationships do not guarantee volumes or pricing, and its exposure to customer production schedules, material costs and product-quality claims remains substantial. Its growth also depends on winning positions with the automakers and models that gain production share.