Automotive Composites Market

The global automotive composites market is projected to grow from USD 7.2 billion in 2022 to USD 14.3 billion by 2028, at a CAGR of 12.1% during the forecast period. Significant growth of composites in automotive industry is observed because of the Increase in awareness of OEMs towards strict government regulations on emission control  and fuel efficiency. Automotive composites offers a huge range of advantages, such as low weight, and high strength to weight ratio, and weather resistance resulting in its increasing adoption in different applications in automotive industry.

Attractive Opportunities in the Automotive Composites Market

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Global Automotive Composites Market Dynamics:

Drivers: Increase in demand for lightweight and fuel-efficient vehicles

The automotive industry is focusing on stringent regulations such as the Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) standards and the European Emission Standards (EES) laid by the governments of the US and Europe, respectively, for vehicle manufacturers. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the transportation industry in the US accounts for 27% of greenhouse gas emission. The US government has made it a critical requirement for automakers to follow an average miles per gallon standard for their vehicles. Thus, US automakers are concerned about producing lightweight vehicles to reduce battery weight and enhancing the fuel efficiency of vehicles. In order to comply with government regulations, car manufacturers are adopting new lightweight materials to manufacture their products. Composites are considered as the best lightweight materials substitute over traditional heavy materials such as steel and aluminum to fabricate a car body.

Restraints: High processing and manufacturing cost of composites

The use of composites has been rising significantly in the manufacturing of various automotive parts such as exterior, interior, chassis, and powertrain. However, the high costs related to processing and manufacturing limits the use of composites. Therefore, it is necessary to use tools to accurately determine the costs in the early stages to reduce the overall cost associated with it. Though there is a growing demand for high-strength and lightweight products, the high cost of composites is acting as a restraint for the automotive composite market. Due to the high cost of composites, end users prefer to use traditional metal products.

Oppotunities: Increasingly stringent government regulations

Vehicles are considered one of the prime contributors to air pollution. Governments across the globe have laid stringent standards to be followed by OEMs regarding CO2 emissions from vehicles. These government norms, if not met by the OEMs, may lead to penalty payments for excess emissions. For instance, in Europe, if the average CO2 emitted from the OEM vehicle exceeds its limit value, then the OEM has to pay an excess premium charge ranging from Euro 5 to Euro 95 for each of its registered cars. OEMs are, thus, focusing on enhancing the fuel efficiency of their vehicles by manufacturing lightweight cars. OEMs have considered composite materials as the best substitute for traditional heavyweight materials such as steel and aluminum to manufacture lightweight, fuel-efficient, and impact-resistant cars.

Challenges: Recyclability of composites

Composites have use in various automotive applications, such as exterior, interior, chassis, and powertrain. The use of composites in these applications helps in achieving light vehicle weight, fuel efficiency, low battery weight, low CO2 emission, and high safety against accidents. However, composites are difficult to recycle. The complex material compositions and cross-linked nature of thermoset resins are posing a threat to the recyclability of composites used in automotive applications. Thermoset resins are difficult to recycle as thermosets are not easy to remold in contrast to thermoplastics.

Glass fiber to account for the largest market share in terms of both value and volume

Glass fiber hold the largest share of the overall automotive composites market, while carbon fiber composites to be the fastest growing segment. Glass fiber reinforced composites are composed of tiny glass fibers compiled together by plastic polymer resin. Owing to its advantages offered by glass fiber composites such as cost effectiveness, stability,  strength, lightweight, durability, flexibility, and resistance to heat, and moisture, glass fiber is a common choice of material for automotive composite manufacturers.

Battery Enclosures to be the fastest growing application of automotive composite market

The exterior application segment accounted for 49.2%, in terms of value of the overall automotive composites market in 2022 while the battery enclosures application is projected to grow at a CAGR of 25.8% in terms of value. With the growth in electric vehicles sales and production the battery enclosure segment is expected to grow at a fastest pace. Battery enclosures made from composites offers weight reduction of about 40% in comparison to the battery enclosures made from aluminum. This reduction in weight of battery enclosure extends the driving range of the vehicle making it more economical.

Asia Pacific held the largest market share and is expected to witness the highest CAGR in the automotive composites market

Asia Pacific dominated the global automotive composites market in 2022 and is projected to witness a high growth rate (CAGR) of 13.4% between 2023 and 2028. China is one of the largest market in Asia Pacific region for automotive composites due to the large number of automakers in the country. China manufactured the maximum number of vehicles in 2021 and holds the record of about 50% of the worlds total sale of electric vehicles in 2021 which was stated to be 6.6 million by IEA. Asia Pacific being the hub of world prominent automakers has a huge potential to lead the automotive composite market in forecasted period. Increasing fuel efficiency by using lightweight materials has enforced the use of composites in the automotive applications which is driving the demand for product in the region.

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Increasing use of carbon fiber composites in automotive applications

The demand for materials having high strength to weight ratio is increasing in automotive industry and hance, owing to the demand for carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRPs). CFRPs offer high strength to weight ration along with flexibility, and corrosion resistance. Carbon fiber composites can be tailored as per the need of the end user with different modulus and strength. The exterior application segment is leading the market, in terms of value, in 2022 due to the increasing demand for body panels, hoods, spoilers and other cpomposnents. Despite of numerous advantages offered by automotive composites the only major restraint for the market is the high expense manufacturing process. Considering the growth potential of carbon fiber composites, majority of leading companies have increased the production capacity, working on their R&D to speed up CFRP production and bring down prices.

Key Market Players

The key players in the global automotive composites market are:

• Toray Industries Inc. (Japan)
• SGL Carbon (Germany)
• Teijin Limited (Japan)
• Mitsubishi Chemical Holding Corporation (Japan)
• Owens Cornings (US)
• Hexcel Corporation (US)

These companies are involved in adopting various inorganic and organic strategies to increase their foothold in the automotive composites industry. The study includes an in-depth competitive analysis of these key players in the automotive composites market, with their company profiles, recent developments, and key market strategies.

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Scope of the Report

This research report categorizes the automotive composites market based on fiber type, resin type, manufacturing process, application, vehicle type, and region.

By Fiber Type:

• Glass Fiber
• Carbon Fiber
• Others

By Resin Type:

• Thermoset
• Thermoplastic

By Manufacturing Process:

• Compression Molding
• Injection Molding
• Resin Transfer Molding (RTM)
• Others

By Application:

• Exterior
• Interior
• Powertrain & Chassis
• Battery Enclosures

By Vehicle Type:

• Non-electric
• Electric

By Region:

• Asia Pacific
• North America
• Europe
• Latin America
• Middle East & Africa

Recent Developments

• In February 2022, Teijin Limited has entered into partnership with Fuji Design Co. Ltd., a Japanese manufacturer of recycled carbon fibers to supply, commercialize, and to produce carbon fiber reinforced products (CFRP) products from recycled carbon fiber
• In April 2021, Japan Polychem Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, has decided to acquire the JPC (Japan Polypropylene Corporation) Group Companies to transfer the Polypropylene Compound (PPCP) business and Funcster™, thermoplastic resin reinforced with long glass fiber business from Japan Polypropylene Corporation to Japan Polychem Corporation.
• In September 2021, Hexcel corporation entered into a partnership with HP Composites S.p.A. to develop carbon fiber Class A body panels for supercars using Hexcel’s   composites and advanced technology.
• In February 2023, Toray Industries Inc. developed a rapid integration molding technique for CRFP (Carbon Reinforced Fiber Plastic) mobility components. This innovation will aid to mold CFRP mobility components in a better and faster way than the traditional molding setup.
• In February 2022, Teijin Automotive Technologies, the core company of the Teijin Group's automotive composites business, started two new facility and one plant is under construction in China to meet the growing demand for composites due to the growing electric vehicles market.

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