Automotive Plastics Market

Global Automotive Plastics Market Size (2024 to 2029)

The global Automotive Plastics Market is predicted to rise from USD 37.23 billion in 2023 to USD 79.58 billion by 2029, registering a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of about 13.5% during the forecast period of 2024 to 2029

MARKET OVERVIEW

Automotive plastics are materials employed in the making of vehicle components. These plastics mainly replace metals in automobiles as they provide similar properties like stiffness, abrasion resistance, toughness, and flame retardancy. Characteristics of plastics, like versatility and flexibility, have boosted the advancement of many technologies to enhance the design of automobiles. Polymers have around 10% of the weight of an average car. The primary objective of utilizing polymers in automobiles is to decrease the weight of the vehicles, hence escalating fuel efficiency and reducing carbon emissions. 

MARKET DRIVERS AND RESTRAINTS

Rising fuel costs and stringent rules implemented by governments of many countries, and different organizations have influenced automotive makers toward the utilization of plastics. Plastics are generally durable, and reliable, and provide easy manufacturing, procedure, and molding that makes its integration in automobiles a comparably simple task. Apart from that, polymers are also employed to enhance the design of the vehicle, therefore increasing the safety standard of the motors. The call for automotive plastics is escalating with the increase in the production of lightweight vehicle parts from the automotive business. Strict environmental and safety rules imposed by the governments of different countries have pushed automotive OEMs to replace metal parts with components that are made of polymers. 

Automotive mass reduction is one of the critical priorities of automobile makers, as it is advantageous in decreasing carbon emissions. Materials for vehicle design are carefully calculated by design engineers, on the basis of cost, material strength, physical & chemical properties, manufacturability, presence, and recyclability. Components made of high-speed steel (HSS), glass fibers, and sheet metal are often available at a lower cost than aluminum, automotive plastics, and magnesium. Still, they have less mass reduction potential than these materials escalating the call for lightweight plastic materials.

The high prices and lack of price-effective manufacturing procedures for high-volume applications have been restricting the employment of composite materials in the automotive business. 

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Market experts are estimating a rise in the call for applications of long fiber reinforced thermoplastic (LFRT) and lightweight reinforced thermoplastic materials in the vehicles over the next few years. Businesses, like BMW (Germany), Mercedes-Benz, Lamborghini, and other high-end automakers, are planning to escalate the employment of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) elements in vehicles to decrease weight. This is also estimated to enhance the fuel economy by up to 50% and reduce the weight of the vehicles by almost 20–75% in comparison to conventional materials.

MARKET CHALLENGES

Capital expenses included with new material design or innovation are often moderated in the long run or the life cycle of the machine. This feature resists the use of the latest advanced materials in automotive designs since these materials need new manufacturing techniques and include process re-engineering that incurs a considerable capital expense. Material cost is a crucial concern for the high-volume production of automotive plastics. Steel is still preferred in the automotive business, as it has inherent benefits, on the basis of present technological expertise, and is the cheapest material per pound as compared to the elements that are being used for structural components.

REPORT COVERAGE

SEGMENTAL ANALYSIS

Global Automotive Plastics Market By Type

The polypropylene segment is the fastest-growing in the market. The growth is mainly attributed to the low cost and outstanding mechanical support and moldability of polypropylene. 

Global Automotive Plastics Market By Application

The interior segment is the largest and is expected to lead the market in the aforementioned forecast period. The growth is mainly attributed to the fact that plastics are majorly used in the interior of the vehicle such as dashboards, door panels, and others.

REGIONAL ANALYSIS

The Asia Pacific was the leading regional market for automotive plastics and accounted for close to 46% of the worldwide industry share in 2023.

The Asia Pacific automotive plastics market accounted for the most substantial share in 2023 and is estimated to remain so over the forecast period. This is credited to the fact that China and India are dominating automotive manufacturing countries. China is estimated to remain the key country, attributing to the availability of easily affordable raw material that is reducing the overall limitations in the making of these automotive plastics. In addition, the surge in the usage of plastics in almost all vehicles to reduce weight is also promoting the expansion of the automotive plastics market in the Asia Pacific area.

In the North American automotive plastics market, the United States of America registered a substantial market share owing to the rising calls for automotive plastics owing to its properties like electric insulation, corrosion inhibition, good heat resistance, and low density. In Europe's automotive plastics market, the strict policies by the government related to greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles have encouraged automotive manufacturers to use more polymers. The usage of plastic reduced the weight of the automobile, hence escalating fuel efficiency. The presence of key automotive polymer market manufacturers in Europe is another factor responsible for the automotive plastics market expansion in Europe. Customers in Europe and the Asia Pacific are very conscious relating to fuel efficiency. This has also driven the call for sustainable plastics. Europe had more than 31% of the total revenue share in 2019. Automobile makers in Europe are utilizing high-performance plastics as these composites are energy-efficient and assist in the weight reduction of the automobile.

In the Middle East & African automotive plastics market, the major factor influencing the automotive plastics market progression is the obtainability of adequate raw materials for the making of plastics. Also, the Latin American automotive plastics market is estimated to observe a significant expansion in the worldwide automotive plastics business.

KEY PLAYERS IN THE GLOBAL AUTOMOTIVE PLASTICS MARKET

BASF SE (Germany), Lear Corporation (US), Borealis AG (Austria), Grupo Antolin-Irausa S.A. (Spain), Adient plc (Ireland), Covestro AG (Germany), SABIC (Saudi Arabia), Magna International Inc. (Canada), Compagnie Plastic Omnium (France) are some of the notable companies in the global Automotive Plastics Market.

DETAILED SEGMENTATION OF THE GLOBAL AUTOMOTIVE PLASTICS MARKET INCLUDED IN THIS REPORT

This research report on the global automotive plastics market has been segmented and sub-segmented based on type, application, and region.

By Type

• HDPE
• Polyvinyl Chloride
• Polycarbonate
• Polyurethane
• Polypropylene
• ABS
• Polyamide
• PBT

By Application

• Interior
• Exterior
• Under Bonnet

By Region

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