Growth in automotive plastics driven by potential for reduction in weight and fuel consumption

11-Feb-14

The growth in the automotive plastics market is largely driven by their potential for a reduction in automobile and fuel consumption by reducing the weight of the vehicle. The factors restraining the market are high material cost and huge investment in material research activities by companies. The opportunities are cited in new materials such as reinforced composites and PMMA. As per Research and Markets, as of year 2012, Asia-Pacific leads consumption volume by 50.5%, followed by Europe (28%), North America (11.3%), and rest of the world (10.1%). Major suppliers/producers include Dow Chemical Company, Bayer MaterialScience, Momentive Performance Materials, Akzonobel, and Evonik. The leading consumers of automotive plastics include major automobile manufacturers such as Toyota, Hyundai Motor Company, Mitsubishi, General Motors, Honda, and Peugeot SA. Among all the automotive plastics, polypropylene leads consumption by 37% followed by polyurethanes (17.3%), ABS (12.3%), composites (11.5%), HDPE (10.8%), polycarbonates (6.8%), and PMMA (4.4%) due to their easy forming properties and their availability at cheaper price than other materials. The global revenue is expected to grow from US$21,617 million in 2012 to US$46,112 million by 2018 at an estimated CAGR of 13.4% from 2013 to 2018. The automotive plastics are widely used in interior, exterior, and under bonnet components of passenger car. The easy moldability and improved physical and chemical properties at reduced weight than conventional materials such as steel and magnesium. The competitive parameters or winning imperatives in the industry are manufacturing process and material research, engineering design and development, and part fabrication capabilities of automotive component or automobile manufacturers.