Report suggests growth for automotive plastics

A new market research report has been released, which suggests that the automotive plastics market for passenger cars will be worth $46,112million (£29,865million) by 2018.

The report, titled “Automotive Plastics Market for Passenger Cars, By Type, Application & Geography – Trends and Forecasts to 2018, was published by MarketsandMarkets.

According to the report, the Global Market Revenue is expected to grow from $21,617million (£13,995million) to $46,112million (£29,865million) by 2018 at an estimated CAGR of 13.4 percent between 2013 and 2018.

Automotive plastics are used in the manufacturing of various components such as bumpers, seating, upholstery, instrument panels, and internal and external trims.

Market trends for 2012 show the Asia-Pacific region as being the biggest consumer of automotive plastics with a share of 50.5 percent. Europe (28 percent), North America (11.3 percent) and rest of the world (10.1 percent) follow.

As for materials, the study suggests polypropylene is the most used plastic, with figures of 37 percent. Polyurethanes have a share of 17.3 percent. Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) follows on 12.3 percent; HDPE has a share of 10.8 percent. Polycarbonates (6.8 percent) and polymethyl methacrylate (4.4 percent) make up the rest.

It is said automotive plastics are among one of the widely preferred alternatives for lightweighting of automobiles as they reportedly offer enhanced properties such as superior impact strength, easy mouldability, improved aesthetics and reduced weight when compared to high speed steel (HSS) and aluminium.