A Key to our Leadership Position
Autoliv's technology leadership has been key in establishing the Company as the industry's global sales leader with superior profitability. The pursuit for new cost-efficient safety technologies continues – in addition to implementing further improvements and cost reductions in existing products.
integrated safety
After having become the global leader in seatbelts, airbags and other passive safety systems, Autoliv has started to develop active safety systems. These are systems that help the driver avoid accidents, or intervene automatically while a crash is still avoidable. They include (see illustration below) safety-enhancing:
– Convenience systems such as Night Vision, Adaptive Cruise Controls (that maintains the speed and distance with the vehicle ahead) and Queue Assist Systems (that automatically stops and starts the vehicle in queues).
–Warning systems such as Collision Warning, Lane Departure Warning and Pedestrian Warning (that warns the driver of a pedestrian at risk).
–Emergency systems that automatically control the vehicle, should the driver not react or react too slowly. These systems include Crash Mitigation by Braking, Crash Avoidance and Pedestrian Impact Mitigation.
In our traditional area, of passive safety, we are focusing on:
–Pre-crash systems that act when a crash is unavoidable. These few critical tenths of a second before a crash could, in future systems, be used to tighten seatbelts (using Active Seatbelts with pre-pretensioners) and for other reversible systems. The pre-crash phase could also be used to inflate airbags more gently (using pre-crash triggering).
–In-crash systems that mitigate the crash violence by using, for instance, even better seatbelt pretensioners and airbags than today or Autoliv's new "pop-up hood" for pedestrian protection that was introduced in 2005 on the new Jaguar XK.
–Post-crash systems such as E-call that automatically call an ambulance after a crash and Event Data Recorders that save critical data from a crash (like the "black box" in an airplane).
Most of the active systems will interact with the passive safety systems and be controlled by a common electronic unit to provide the best possible integrated safety system.
Autoliv's technological leadership in passive safety is therefore a competitive advantage when active and passive safety are integrated.
Safer Night Driving
Autoliv's Night Vision System, which was introduced in 2005 on the BMW 7 series, will enable drivers to see up to 1,000 feet (300 meters) at night compared to less than 300 feet (100 meters) with existing low-beam headlights.
The key to the system's superior performance is the capability of the camera to sense heat from objects and living beings. The system is so sensitive that it can see in total darkness without any lamps or illumination. As a result, the field of vision is not dependent on or limited to the beam of the headlights or of an infrared (IR) light source as in "near-zone" infrared vision systems.
The driver can not only see farther than with traditional lights or "near-zone" infrared systems, but can also see the areas surrounding the road to detect animals and children running into the path of the vehicle. The new camera has a wide-angle lens, large enough to cover the normal field of view of humans. The camera also has a digital zoom-in/zoom-out function that is controlled by the speedometer and the steering wheel. At 50 mph (80 km/h) the speedometer automatically zooms the display and enlarges objects in the distance. And if the road should bend, turning the steering wheel would pan the displayed image automatically to one side so the driver can easily follow curvy roads on the display.
Since the system does not depend on illumination, it cannot blind drivers in other vehicles or other road users, nor can lights from other vehicles blind the system. Consequently, it enables the driver to see equally well when using either low or high beams.
This makes night driving more comfortable and safer. Generally, night driving is 2-3 times more risky than daylight driving. In Europe more than 20,000 people are killed every year in night-time accidents and an additional 560,000 people are injured.
record investment in R,d&e
During 2005, we increased our gross expenditures for R,D&E by 1% to $475 million or to 7.7% of sales from 7.5% in 2004 and 7.2% in 2001. Of the 2005 amount, $85 million was related to customer-funded engineering projects and crash tests.
Net of this income, we increased our R,D&E expenditures by 5% to $386 million or to 6.2% of sales, compared to 6.0% in 2004 and 5.0% in 2001.
Number 1 in Safety Patents
According to the latest published data, Autoliv accounted for more "subsequent patents filings" in automotive safety than any other company. Autoliv holds 3,500 patents, an increase of 300 from 2004 and an increase of 50% over the past few years.
The expiration of any single patent is not expected to have any material adverse effect on Autoliv's financial position.
We also hold trademarks, but patents are more important in our industry, since products are not sold directly to the car buyers.
New airbag
Although airbags save thousands of lives every year, they are potentially dangerous for children and other occupants who are sitting too close to a deploying frontal airbag.
To reduce this risk for children, the vehicle manufacturers install airbag suppression systems. However, these systems have several drawbacks (e.g. high costs, low accuracy and complicated installation in the seat).
Autoliv is therefore developing an airbag that could automatically release pressure should the occupant be too close to the bag. If the occupant is at a safe distance to the bag, two straps will be stretched and, as a consequence, cinch their vent tubes to allow gas pressure to build up in the bag.
This "Cinch Tube Airbag" is currently being tested to confirm that it is as efficient and safe as existing airbags. The work is being done in cooperation with a vehicle manufacturer.
AUTOLIV'S INTEGRATED SAFETY