North America Market Insights on Automotive Composite Materials, 2018-2024: Emphasis on Material Type (Polymer Matrix Composites, Metal Matrix Composites, Ceramic Matrix Composites and Hybrid Composites), Manufacturing Process (Hand Lay up, Compression Molding, Injection Molding, Resin Transfer Molding)

The automotive industry holds a significant share of North America's economy as the region is the second-largest vehicle producer in the world. According to a ranking published by Environment Protection Agency (EPA) published in 2017, North America's largest automotive industry, the U.S held the second position with a 15% share among all other countries. However, the increase in the number of vehicles leads to a subsequent increase in Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emissions. This increase in the GHG level in the atmosphere is of utmost importance to the governing bodies in the region. Following this, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Environment Protection Agency (EPA) issued emission regulations under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act and Clear Air Act respectively. Both the agencies together finalized certain Carbon Dioxide (CO2) limits for passenger cars and commercial vehicles for 2025. They together set a target value of 89 g/km of CO2 emission for passenger cars, 126g/km of CO2 emission for light trucks and 101 g/km for combined cars and trucks.

The firmness from the government side made the auto players find ways to reduce GHG emissions by their vehicles. In this respect, using composite materials is one the most preferred was of reducing GHG emissions. The usage of composite materials not only reduces the emission but also imparts superior properties than the traditional materials. Besides this, there is a growing adoption of composite materials in fuel-efficient vehicles, as they compensate the weight increased by the batteries. Further, the presence of some of the leading automotive OEMs and composite material suppliers strengthens the North America automotive composite materials market. Some of the composite materials players in North America include Hexel Corporation, Continental Structural Plastics, Cytec Industries, Dow Automotive Systems, DuPont and Magna International Inc., among others. In addition to this, with the growing demand for composite materials in North America, there is a visible increase in the number of material supplier startups. Owing to this, the North America automotive composite materials market is expected to reach US USD 1,454.87 million in 2024 from US USD 692.67 million in 2017 at a CAGR of 11.3% during the forecast period (2018-2024).On the other hand, the major factors that are hampering the market growth are the high cost of the raw materials and recyclability issues. In spite of this, the increasing demand for hybrid composites and increasing OEM and supplier relationships within the region are considered to be the key opportunity areas for the players in the supply chain.

Polymer Matrix Composite (PMC), Metal Matrix Composite (MMC), Ceramic Matrix Composite (CMC) and Hybrid Composite are different types of composite materials widely used across the automotive industry. Currently, PMCs are the most popular composite type among the automakers, as they have high flexibility, high insulation, lower density and lighter weight than other composite materials. Owing to such factors, North America polymer matrix composite segment held the highest market value of US USD 525.5 million in 2017 and is anticipated to reach US USD 1,096.5 million by 2024 at a CAGR of 11.2% during the forecast period (2018-2024). However, because of lower cost, lesser cycle time and better structural and mechanical properties of hybrid composites, they have high growth opportunities and are expected to growth at a CAGR of 13.9% during the forecast period (2018-2024).

The properties of the composite materials change with the manufacturing techniques, hence these techniques are considered as an important aspect of the composites. Some of the popular manufacturing processes include Hand Lay Up, Compression Moulding, Injection Moulding, and Resin Transfer Moulding (RTM). Injection Moulding dominated the North American market in 2017 with a market value of US USD 318.8 million and is anticipated to reach US USD 669.90 million by 2024 at a CAGR of 11.3% during the forecast period (2018-2024). On the other side, RTM will be the fastest-growing manufacturing process, because of its growing adoption in the auto industry. RTM is widely used for mass production of large and complex surfaces, they completely satisfy the low cost- high volume requirement of the automotive industry. RTM held US USD 57.3 million market value in 2017 and is expected to reach US USD 130.4 million by 2024 at a CAGR of 12.6% during the forecast period.

Moreover, a visible surge in the usage of composite materials is witnessed across all the vehicle segments. These are replacing steel, aluminum and other materials in vehicle interiors, exteriors, structures, chassis, powertrain, and others. Among different application areas, the exterior application held the highest market value with a market value of US USD 470.6 million in 2017 and is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 11.1% to reach US USD 978.40 million by the end of the forecast period. However, the stringent regulations on vehicle interior air quality within the region are expected to fuel the demand for composite demand for vehicle interiors. Owing to this, North America's interior application market is poised to grow at a CAGR of 12.3% during the forecast period (2018-2024).

Among several vehicle types, which include passenger cars, Super Cars, and others, the passenger car segment is the largest vehicle market in the region. Hence passenger cars held the highest market share with the market value of US USD 680.4 million in 2017 and are anticipated to reach US USD 1,400.0 million by 2024 at a CAGR of 11.0%. In addition to this, the largest market share of passenger cars among the vehicle segment is attributed to the growing adoption of composites in this segment.

In the North America automotive composite materials market, the U.S dominated the market. It is evident from the fact that the U.S has the largest automotive industry in the region, further the presence of several material suppliers, automotive OEMs, stringent emission regulations and increasing adoption of composites in electric vehicles are attributed to be the major factors for the dominance of the U.S in the region. The U.S automotive composite materials market was valued at US USD 531.1 million in 2017 and is anticipated to reach US USD 1,028.0 million by 2024 at a CAGR of 10.0% during the forecast period. Some of the major local and foreign key players active in the North America automotive composite materials market include BASF, DowDupont, Gurit Holding AG, Magna International Inc., Mitsubishi Chemicals Holding Corporation, Owens Corning, SGL Group, Solvay S.A., Teijin Limited and Toray Industries Inc. These players are entering into several competitive strategies (partnerships, merger-acquisitions, joint venture, new product launch, business expansion, and others) with each other or other supplier or automotive OEMs to strengthen their position in the North America automotive composite materials market.