Autoliv, which supplies vehicles worldwide with seat belts, airbags, and other safety solutions, turned 70 years old in 2023. This heritage was celebrated in various ways during the anniversary year – and now also in a new book about Autoliv's history, produced by us at the Centre for Business History.
It was in 1953 that the Lindblad brothers founded what would become Autoliv. Before a car trip through Europe, one of the brothers, Lennart, worried about his wife's safety in the car. The seat belts available at the time didn’t impress him much, so he made a new one for her himself. Since then, the company has continued to develop new safety solutions – from seat belts and airbags to advanced steering wheels and electronics. And car manufacturers worldwide continue to place their trust in Autoliv’s safety solutions.
In the new book "Autoliv – Saving lives since 1953" (Business History Publishing, 2024), author Karin Jansson Myhr tells how a small company in the Swedish countryside grew to become a world leader in vehicle safety. The book is based on numerous interviews with current and former employees and research in Autoliv’s corporate archives, held by the Centre for Business History.
– Autoliv’s history is filled with curious and innovative people, from engineers to entrepreneurs, who created the company we work for today and whose legacy we continue to build upon. That’s exactly what Karin shows in her book about us, and we couldn’t be prouder, says Gabriella Etemad, Communications Director at Autoliv.
The book will be distributed during autumn 2024 to Autoliv employees and will be available in a smaller edition at the Centre for Business History.
By the way, Gabriella Etemad spoke about how Autoliv celebrated 70 years at our History Marketing Summit last year.
