TRW to Make Ford’s Seat Belts

CLEVELAND — TRW Inc., a research and development firm, said today that it has won a $1-billion contract to design and supply all Ford Motor Co.’s seat belts and air bags in North America.

While terms of the five-year renewable contract were not disclosed, TRW said the new unit it is forming to supply the safety devices could have sales of a billion by the early 1990s. The company said the new unit, TRW Vehicle Safety Systems, will include current TRW manufacturing facilities in California, Michigan, Mississippi, Texas, the Canadian province of Ontario and Mexico. These plants have a total of about 3,100 employees.