Automotive Composites Market - Forecasts from 2024 to 2029

The automotive composites market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.04%, reaching a market size of US$15.231 billion in 2029 from US$8.943 billion in 2024.

Automotive composites are light and compact materials mainly employed under the hood and in the interiors of trucks, cars, and other vehicles. Composites are employed for numerous interior and exterior applications because they are favoured materials for weight reduction in autos. Because of their outstanding dimensional stability, composite materials have become more prevalent in the automotive sector in recent years. Composites are desirable materials because of their shape retention, low coefficient of thermal expansion, corrosion resistance for performance in dry and wet situations, convenience of manufacturing, & low weight to reduce overall vehicle mass.

Automotive Composites Market Drivers

The requirement for lightweight components in automobile parts to improve fuel efficiency and lower emissions 

Compared to traditional structural metallic materials such as steel, iron, and aluminium, composites offer weight reduction benefits of 15-20% for glass fibre and 25-40% for carbon fibre composites. Moreover, many public-private partnership programs in EU member states have already been developed to boost the use of composites in the automotive sector. The creation of composites and automotive lightweight materials innovation clusters, and collaborations with the automotive and chemical industries to support the investment through supply chain analysis of the automotive carbon fibre composites market, are examples of such initiatives.

Increase in demand for electric vehicles.

According to several experts, electric vehicles will allow for higher prices per kilo of weight saved in vehicle weight reduction measures. Typical IC engine automobiles can only afford to spend a couple of dollars for each kilogram of weight saved, whereas electric vehicles can save 7-8 dollars per kilogram. Cars waste a lot more energy while accelerating according to the conventional driving cycles. However, they can also recuperate more kinetic energy using brake energy recovery. With respect to electric vehicles, a reduction in body mass would help maintain the range without affecting battery capacity. This decreases both electric vehicle body weights (including batteries) and overall vehicle weights through reductions induced by other systems. For instance, in the braking system and power train, if an additional Wayback loop is used in system design, it would also allow for downsizing other systems in the vehicle. ICE vehicles have been able to reduce pollution and improve performance due to reduced weight at the same power and torque of the drivetrain. 

Rising use of glass fibre composites in the automotive industry 

The requirement for lighter-weight materials that can enhance fuel mileage while reducing greenhouse gases has grown progressively over the past few years. Glass fibre composites are widely employed in the automotive industry since they are less expensive than carbon and natural fibre composites. Furthermore, natural fibre composites are used to make vehicle body sections like engine hoods, storage tanks, and dashboards, reducing the use of other metals like steel.

Increasing demand for exterior automobiles is anticipated to increase the market demand

Exterior automobile applications for automotive composites include headlamps, heat shielding components, and more. Many automakers are likewise emphasizing composites in their vehicle bodywork. For example, recent research indicates that reinforced thermoplastics could become the next big wave. The BMW i3 is the world's first mass-produced automobile with a thermoplastic composite exterior element.  As an alternative to glass fibre as a lightweight solution, the automobile industry is increasingly adopting natural composites in the interior portions of vehicles.

Automotive Composites Market Restraints

Recycling challenges are expected to hamper the growth

The market for automotive composites presents more difficult recycling challenges than recycling for metallic materials. This is because the fibre reinforcement components are frequently joined to the other components, for example, by metal fasteners. The main challenge is the intricacy of disassembling, separating, and de-bonding automotive components for recycling. Moreover, separating individual materials from the composite is challenging, even if the parts can be split apart. This is because composites are made up of a mixture of materials and cannot be recycled or melted down. Hence, the market is being hampered by the different recycling regulations governing the plastic and composites industries and their inefficient recycling procedure.

Automotive Composites Market Geographical Outlook

Asia Pacific is expected to take the lead in terms of market share.

Due to the highest number of automobiles present, particularly in China, India, and Thailand, Asia Pacific is the largest and fastest-growing region. Furthermore, India, Indonesia, Thailand, and China are predicted to have the greatest number of cars on the road and the largest markets for four-wheelers, fueling the market's expansion. As per the India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), in July 2023, 2.08 units of passenger vehicles, three-wheelers, two-wheelers, and quadricycles were produced in total, a trend expected to continue in the future decade. In addition, the biggest suppliers worldwide seek to Asia in a bid to increase their profits. To meet increasing demand, some of the largest automakers on the planet are setting up car plants in India, thus boosting the nation’s automotive composites sales.

Automotive Composites Market Developments:

• In October 2023, the Mitsubishi Chemical Group began strategically acquiring CPC, a top Italian producer of automotive carbon fibre composite components. Because CFRP helps make car bodies lighter, which is essential for complying with strict fuel economy regulations and lowering CO2 emissions, the global automobile market is becoming increasingly interested in CFRP. The automotive sector is rapidly adopting CFRP in automotive components, and the MCG Group is well-positioned to take the lead by providing customers with the best solutions possible at every stage of the value chain, from component design to production.
• In May 2022, Solvay, a leading global supplier of speciality materials, announced the launch of SolvaLite® 714 Prepregs, a new generation of unidirectional carbon-fibre and woven-fabric products pre-impregnated with SolvaLite® 714 epoxy resin, to enhance its extensive portfolio of composite materials for the automotive industry. These novel prepregs have been designed to produce automotive components, like body panels, at short compression-moulding cycle times in serial production runs. They also have a long outlive and fast cure cycles.

Automotive Composites Key Market Segmentation:

The Automotive Composites Market is segmented and analyzed as below:

By Fibre Type

• Polymer Matrix
• Glass Fiber
• Natural Fiber
• Carbon Fiber
• Ceramic Matrix
• Metal Matrix

By Application

• Exterior
• Interior
• Structural
• Chassis and Powertrain
• Others

By Geography

• North America
• USA
• Canada
• Mexico
• South America
• Brazil
• Argentina
• Others
• Europe
• United Kingdom
• Germany
• France
• Italy
• Spain
• Others
• Middle East and Africa
• Saudi Arabia
• Israel
• Others
• Asia Pacific
• Japan
• China 
• India
• South Korea
• Indonesia
• Thailand
• Taiwan
• Others