Swedish automotive safety company shuts down further plants due to weaker demand.

Autoliv, the worldwide leader in automotive safety systems, said Monday it would close down an additional four plants in France, Germany, Mexico and Tunisia, entailing at least 820 job cuts.

The move is a part of its ongoing action program to cut output following reduced demand from the deflated auto sector.

“This is another important but difficult step in our action plan. In the highly competitive automotive industry we have to continuously improve our competitiveness and adapt the capacity to the actual demand,” said Jan Carlson, President and CEO of Autoliv Inc.

Autoliv, which makes more than 70 percent of its sales in Europe and North America, has already cut thousands of jobs.

Like many others, Autoliv has been hit hard by the downturn in the auto industry sector. Last week European Investment Bank and Autoliv signed a financing commitment agreement giving Autoliv access to a loan of €225 million ($325 million) on favorable terms.

Together with its joint ventures, Autoliv has 80 facilities with approximately 36,000 employees in 28 vehicle-producing countries, according to its website.