Autoliv, the world's largest maker of airbags and seat belts, said Friday (October 25) that the company has lowered its organic sales forecast for 2019 in view of the continued decline in global light vehicle production. The decline in demand, investment demand, and the shift to electric vehicles and autonomous driving technologies have put the global automotive industry under great pressure, and the entire industry is also in a difficult situation of large-scale decline.
According to data released by Autoliv, the company ’s adjusted operating income for the third quarter of this year fell from $ 194 million last year to $ 183 million, lower than the $ 186 million predicted by the previous 19 analysts, and the adjusted operating profit margin From 9.5% to 9.0%. In the third quarter, Autoliv's net sales were $ 2.028 billion, a decrease of 0.3% compared to the same period last year, and adjusted earnings per share also fell from $ 1.35 to $ 1.30.
In the past few weeks, several component suppliers have warned that global automobile production is not expected to grow substantially in the next few years. Autoliv's data released on Friday showed that organic sales are expected to increase by 1% in 2019, compared with its previous forecast of 1-3%. Autoliv CEO Mikael Bratt said: "In the last quarter, we faced continuous challenges brought by the market environment. We don't think that the output of light vehicles will rebound in the short term."
In addition to the problems caused by light vehicle production and the supply of raw materials, strikes by GM workers in North America also adversely affected Autoliv's sales. In addition, Autoliv said it cut another 800 employees in the third quarter and said it would continue to reduce costs.
Thanks to customer support and short- and long-term business opportunities, Autoliv signed two new partners in the third quarter, namely the North American Road Safety Research Laboratory and Great Wall Motors, and a new generation of airbags with Honda Motors. Cooperation. In the market downturn, investors also re-evaluated Autoliv's market value, and after its revenue data was released, Autoliv's stock price increased by 1.7%.