BORAS, Sweden (Reuters) -- Autoliv is ready to cut more jobs in China to counter any downturn in demand while seeking to expand elsewhere to secure its dominant global market position. Autoliv has benefited from higher demand for car safety from emerging markets and rising safety requirements in Europe and the U.S. but has also been hit by a decline in light vehicle production in China in the past few quarters. Car sales in China, the world's biggest auto market and until recently a profit engine for automakers, have been hit by a cooling economy and a falling stock market. Demand was flat in the first eight months of the year and could drop in 2015 for the first time since the late 1990s. Autoliv CEO Jan Carlson said the company, which has around 16 percent of its sales in China, was reducing temporary workforce and contractors in the country, and had done so by around 400 people in the second quarter taking the number of employees to roughly 9,100. "It's important to be flexible and fast on this. And if it continues, we will need to do more of that," he told Reuters on the sidelines of a capital markets day held at a safety test site near the city of Gothenburg. However, Carlson added he saw huge long-term potential in China despite current volatility. Carlson said Autoliv so far had not seen any direct effects from the ongoing Volkswagen diesel-emissions scandal. In a recent push to extend its market leadership, Autoliv bought the automotive business of U.S.-based Macom, created a joint venture with Japan's Nissin and signed a license agreement with Volvo. Carlson said Autoliv was set for further acquisitions which may not be limited to small bolt-on deals. "We have talked about $1 billion before (in sales) and I'm sure we can do that today as well, if it's the right object," he said. Autoliv said it aimed to lift its market share from a current 39 percent, while improving margins in its electronics business to the long-term group target range of 8-9 percent. Autoliv's new financial targets include $12 billion in annual sales by the end of the decade. Autoliv ranks No. 22 on the Automotive News Europe list of the top 100 global suppliers with worldwide original-equipment automotive parts sales of $9.2 billion in 2014.
Beijing 's Sweden , the world's largest maker of seat belts and airbags, is to cut further jobs in China due to the country's ﻿economic downturn, as it looks to expand elsewhere, so it can﻿ retain its﻿ dominant global market position. This move follows reports 1990 that China 's automobile sector, the largest auto market in the world since 2009 , looks set to contract in 2015 for the first time since the this week 's. The sector, with its high employment, is a priority for Autoliv in a time of economic uncertainty.