Automotive Thermoplastics Market: What are the Key Growth Factors?

 The mushrooming popularity of lightweight and fuel-efficient vehicles is pushing up the worldwide demand for automotive thermoplastics. This is because thermoplastic components are extensively used for reducing the weight of the automobile, which, in turn, causes a sharp rise in its fuel economy. Moreover, as thermoplastics are heavily used in various applications in the automobile industry, the expansion of this industry, owing to the burgeoning manufacturing and sales of automobiles, especially in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, is driving their demand across the world. 

According to the Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles, 77,971,234 automobiles were sold all over the world in 2020. Furthermore, as per the India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), the automotive industry in India is predicted to witness its value rise to Rs. 16.16-18.18 trillion (US$ 251.4-282.8 billion) by 2026. These materials are being increasingly used in the manufacturing of several automobile parts, such as bearing parts, vehicle-body, and battery frames. Due to these factors, the value of the global automotive thermoplastics market will surge massively in the coming years.

Interior, powertrain, chassis, and exterior automobile parts are the major application areas of automotive thermoplastics. Amongst these, the usage of thermoplastics is currently the highest in the vehicle’s exterior parts, such as doors, deck lids, body in white, hood, and roof. In these parts, thermoplastics are used for providing toughness and strength and also for reducing the overall weight. Across the globe, the sales of these materials were observed to be the highest in the APAC region during the last few years.

Moreover, the demand for these parts is predicted to rise at the fastest pace in this region over the next few years. This is ascribed to the fact that the APAC region is the world’s largest automobile manufacturing region. For example, the region witnessed the production of 52.5 million automobiles in 2018. Additionally, with the increasing disposable income of people and the rising urbanization rate, the sales of automobiles are soaring, which is, in turn, propelling the requirement for automotive thermoplastics in the region.

This is attributed to the various beneficial characteristics of these parts and the several advantages of using them over the conventionally used plastics. For example, the use of CFRP-based components assists vehicle manufacturers in producing lightweight and high strength-exhibiting vehicles. BASF SE, Toray Industries Inc., Nippon Sheet Glass Co. Ltd., Quickstep Holdings Ltd., Celanese Corp., Gurit Holding AG, Jushi Group Co. Ltd., Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), Teijin Ltd., and Dow Chemical Co. Ltd. are some of the leading automotive thermoplastic producing companies across the world.