The International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (OICA) states that a total of 77,621,582 vehicles were manufactured in 2020. As per the OICA, India, China, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, and South Korea produced 3,394,446 units, 25,225,242 units, 8,067,557 units, 1,427,074 units, 691,286 units, and 3,506,774 units of vehicles, respectively, in 2020. The increasing automobile production, especially in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, on account of the mounting investments being made by automakers in APAC nations, will fuel the demand for automotive composite materials in the foreseeable future.
Additionally, the burgeoning demand for lightweight and fuel-efficient vehicles, owing to the surging concerns over rising air pollution levels and depleting fossil fuel reserves, is also expected to contribute to the progress of the automotive composite market in the upcoming years. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 99% of the people across the world breathe air that exceeds WHO guideline limits regarding pollutant level. Automobile manufacturers are using a combination of plastics, steel, magnesium, aluminum, and composites to reduce vehicle weight, which will, in turn, lead to lesser fuel consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) emission.
In contemporary times, automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are using ceramic matrix composite materials, metal matrix composite materials, and polymer matrix composite materials, such as carbon fiber reinforced polymers, glass fiber reinforced polymers, and natural fiber reinforced polymers, to reduce overall vehicle weight. These materials are manufactured by Toray Industries Inc., Scott Bader Company Ltd., Johns Manville, Koninklijke Ten Cate N.V., UFP Technologies Inc., Teijin Limited, SAERTEX GmbH & Co. KG, E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Cytec Industries Inc., and Johnson Controls Inc.
Furthermore, the European region also consumed a considerable quantity of automotive composites in the recent past. The
European automotive composite market was dominated by the U.K., Germany, Spain, Russia, and France. High volume consumption of these materials in such countries can be attributed to the rapid technological advancements and extensive focus of automakers on enhancing passenger comfort and manufacturing lightweight vehicles. Additionally, the presence of strict vehicular emission curtailment laws also facilitates the usage of composite materials in the automotive industry of Europe.
Thus, the burgeoning automobile sales and production and rising demand for lightweight vehicles are expected to propel the usage of automotive composites in the forthcoming years.
No comments:
Post a Comment