The increasing adoption of passenger and commercial vehicles in India, Indonesia, and China, primarily on account of rapid urbanization, will amplify the need for automotive window and sealing systems in coming years. For instance, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), 2.7 million passenger vehicles and 568,559 commercial vehicles were purchased in India during the financial year 2020–2021. Moreover, the surging disposable income of people in developing as well as developed countries will also boost the production of such systems, owing to the enhancement in living standards.
Moreover, the rising preference for lightweight materials in the automobile industry will support the automotive window and sealing systems market to advance at a 7.6% CAGR during 2018–2025. The market was valued at $21.7 billion in 2017 and it is projected to exceed $38.7 billion by 2025. As lightweight vehicles have higher fuel efficiency, automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are increasingly using lightweight sealants. Besides, advancements in sealing technology have also resulted in the production of high-performance solutions for automotive, aerospace, and industrial sealing applications.
At present, automobile component OEMs are expanding their facilities and entering into partnerships to offer their automotive window and sealing systems to more customers. For instance, in April 2018, Magna International Inc. and GAC Component Co. Ltd. (GACC) entered into a joint venture to produce composite liftgates for a crossover vehicle to be manufactured by a global automaker. Similarly, Cooper Standard Holdings Inc. established a new 100,000-square-foot rubber production unit in Aguascalientes, Mexico in June 2018. The company invested $11 million in this facility to localize elastomer mixing and expand its presence in Mexico.
Currently, the automobile industry is increasingly using glass run channels in vehicles, due to the high utilization of such components of window and sealing systems by OEMs and aftermarket users, and surge in research and development (R&D) activities for alternative substances to cater to the need for the automotive cockpit sector. Additionally, the OEMs and aftermarket users are also deploying waist belt seals, hood seals, roof ditch moldings, front windshield seals, trunk seals, rear windshield seals, door seals, end caps, sunroof seals, corner moldings, and encapsulated glasses in large quantities.
OEMs such as Cooper Standard Holdings Inc., Toyoda Gosei Co. Ltd., and Hutchinson Sealing Systems Inc. use thermoplastic vulcanizer (TPV), thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), and ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) to manufacture various components of automotive window and sealing systems. Nowadays, the OEMs prefer EPDM over other materials, due to its usage in weather-stripping applications. Large quantities of this material are also used in passenger cars. Additionally, automakers are also integrating such systems in commercial vehicles and electric vehicles (EVs) as well.
According to P&S Intelligence, Asia-Pacific (APAC) will dominate the automotive window and sealing systems market in the coming years, due to the surging automobile production in developing economies of the region. As China is the largest automobile manufacturing hub, it is the largest consumer of such systems. Moreover, the region is also expected to exhibit the fastest growth in the foreseeable future, on account of the rising gross domestic product (GDP) and surging disposable income of people in developing countries such as India and China.
Thus, the escalating number of passenger and commercial vehicles in emerging economies and the rising shift toward lightweight materials in the automobile sector will augment the sales of automotive window and sealing systems in the coming years.
