Autoliv: the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences Honors Autoliv's Former CEO Gunnar Bark

• Press Release
• Source: Autoliv
• On 9:47 am EDT, Friday October 23, 2009

STOCKHOLM, Sweden--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Regulatory News:

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Gunnar Bark today received the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences’s Gold Medal for his contributions as an entrepreneur and for creating the world’s leading safety company Autoliv Inc (STO:ALIVSDB)(NYSE:ALV - News). The award was personally presented to Mr. Bark by His Majesty the King of Sweden at the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences’s annual prize ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden.

Mr. Bark became the driving force of Autoliv in 1982, when the company was a small subsidiary within the Electrolux group. Sales amounted to $30 million and were limited to regular seatbelts and to a few customers in Europe with production in Sweden, Germany and France.

When he retired as CEO seventeen years later, Autoliv had become the largest automotive safety company in the world with a third of the world market. Sales had grown more than 100 times to $3.8 billion with manufacturing in virtually all vehicle-producing countries in the world.

During Mr. Bark’s time as CEO of Autoliv, the company developed many of the occupant safety products that are today considered a must in any modern car. This includes the seatbelt pretensioner, side airbags and the inflatable curtains that save many thousands of lives every year all over the world.

“This was unexpected and I am much honored. I see this award as a recognition of my and my coworkers’ hard work,” says Mr. Bark.

About Autoliv

Autoliv Inc., the worldwide leader in automotive safety systems, develops and manufactures automotive safety systems for all major automotive manufacturers in the world. Together with its joint ventures, Autoliv has 80 facilities with approximately 38,000 employees in 28 vehicle-producing countries. In addition, the Company has technical centers in eleven countries around the world, with 21 test tracks, more than any other automotive safety supplier. Sales in 2008 amounted to US $6.5 billion. The Company's shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: ALV - News) and its Swedish Depository Receipts on the OMX Nordic Exchange in Stockholm (ALIV sdb).

About Gunnar Bark:

Gunnar Bark was born 1939. He has a Master of Science degree from the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden. After his graduation, he worked for FOA, Datema and Rationellt Näringsliv. In 1972 he became the CEO of Optimus. In 1979 he started at Electrolux AB. 1982 he became the president of Gränges Weda, a division of Electrolux. Gränges Weda had a small subsidiary in Vårgårda, Sweden, named Autoliv. This became the starting point of the Autoliv AB that was introduced on the Swedish stock exchange in 1994. Gunnar Bark was the chairman of Autoliv from 1997 to 2001. In 1997 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate at the Chalmers University in Sweden.

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The Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences
Birgitta Björkskär
+46 8 791 30 41
or
Autoliv Inc.
Henrik Kaar, Director Corporate Communications
+46 8 587 20 614