Autoliv Contributes to Record Safety Rating

    STOCKHOLM, Sweden--March 29, 2001--In the European crash test program Euro NCAP that was started in 1996, Renault's new Laguna, to which Autoliv is the exclusive supplier of safety systems, recently became the first vehicle ever to receive the highest possible rating - five stars.
    As part of this Euro New Car Assessment Program (NCAP), 86 vehicles in six categories have been crash tested.
    The Euro NCAP tests have set a new common European standard for crashworthiness. The program is backed by five European countries and the European Commission, as well as by motoring and consumer organizations in every European country. The Euro NCAP tests measure how well a vehicle protects the front and back seats occupants in a frontal crash and a side impact collision.
    When the new test requirements were announced, some manufacturers said that they were so stringent that it would be impossible to reach a full five star rating. But now Renault has achieved this with the Laguna model that was launched early this year.
    The safety restraint systems of the new Laguna has been upgraded in several ways with, for instance, such new safety systems as Autoliv's patented Inflatable Curtain for protecting the head in side impacts and Autoliv's latest generation of safety electronics.
    The new Laguna also has Autoliv's new frontal airbags system for which Autoliv last year received the Annual Award of the British Automobile Association. In this system, the volume of the airbags can be adjusted to the severity of the crash. This is accomplished by deploying one or two charges in the system's dual-stage gas generators. With both stages being deployed, specially designed tear-seams on the side of the airbags rip apart and a bigger bag is unfolded.
    Additionally, the new Laguna has been equipped with double pretensioners for the driver, which makes the Laguna the first vehicle in the world with this safety enhancement. The seat belt can thereby not only be tightened at the onset of a crash as with a regular pretensioning system, but the tightening can be adjusted to the severity of the crash. Regular pretensioners are installed in the seat belt systems for the front seat occupant and the outer-rear seat positions. All seat belts are equipped with load limiters that release some webbing before the load on the occupant's chest becomes too high.
    Other safety systems in the Laguna are side-impact airbags for chest protection in the seats. These bags are standard in the front seats and offered as an option in the back seat.
    In line with the global trend in the auto industry and Renault's policy to purchase products as systems, Autoliv is also the supplier of the steering wheel to the Laguna.
    "We are delighted and proud to have been selected by Renault to be the supplier and development partner for the new Laguna and are very pleased with the results of this cooperation," said Mr. Lars Westerberg, Autoliv's President and Chief Executive Officer.
    "The basis for this productive cooperation is, of course, Renault's own ambitions and efforts in automotive safety and Renault's OPTIMA policy which gives certain selected supplier more flexibility and possibilities to look for ways to optimize the efficiency and performance of a vehicle during the very early stages of new car development. Our responsibility in this partnership is also to suggest and develop ever more sophisticated and innovative safety technologies," concluded Lars Westerberg.