Automotive Drive Shaft Market Forecast Period 2019 – 2027

Posted by Dinesh on April 2nd, 2021

Demand for Lightweight and Energy-efficient Vehicles to Augment Market Growth

The automotive industry has evolved at a rapid pace over the past four to five decades, owing to advancements in technology, developments in the regulatory landscape, and fluctuating consumer demands. The evolution in the automotive sector also been influenced by significant developments and advancements made in production and design aspects of different automotive components. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the automotive sector around the world was witnessing a steady growth, particularly from the Asia Pacific region. At present, the evolving regulatory landscape, which predominantly focuses on introducing environment-friendly automotive technologies, has played a vital role in the development of the global automotive drive shaft market.

Due to the cutthroat competition across the global automotive sector, market players are increasingly focusing on rolling out energy-efficient vehicles that are adhere to the guidelines laid down to increase their share in the current market landscape. Due to increasing emphasis on energy efficiency and environment protection over the past decade, automotive manufacturers are exploring the possibilities of using automotive drive shafts made from alternative materials than steel to attain these objectives. Several lightweight materials such as aluminum and carbon fiber are increasingly being used to manufacture automotive drive shafts and the trend is likely to continue during the forecast period.

The significant rise in the sales of utility vehicles around the world is another major factor that is likely to influence the overall growth of the automotive drive shaft market in the upcoming years. At the back of these factors coupled with improvements in design and advancements in material science, the global automotive drive shaft market is expected to reach a market value of ~US$ 21 Bn by the end of 2027.

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Market Players Incline toward Lightweight Carbon Fiber and Aluminum

Over the past few decades, automotive drive shafts were largely made from steel due to the exceptional durability and noise dampening properties of the material. In addition, as steel is also relatively cost-effective than other alternative materials, even in the automotive drive shaft market landscape, it continues to remain one of the most extensively used materials to produce automotive drive shafts. However, recent calls to enhance the performance and energy efficiency of automotive vehicles has compelled companies in the automotive drive shaft market to explore the possibilities of using other materials such as aluminum and carbon fiber to design and manufacture automotive drive shafts.

Although steel is likely to remain the most popular material type, aluminum and carbon fiber are gaining immense popularity. Steel is tipped to remain the top choice to produce stock drive trains, as minimum maintenance is required. In recent years, the market share of aluminum automotive drive shafts has increased at a higher rate than that of steel drive shafts, and the trend is anticipated to continue in the upcoming decade. The growing popularity of aluminum automotive drive shafts can be largely attributed to the low weight of the material due to which, automotive manufacturers can optimize the efficiency and performance of their vehicles. Although the demand for aluminum automotive drive shafts is on the rise and projected to witness steady year-on-year growth, carbon fiber is likely to come out as a winner in terms of the most adopted material to produce drive shafts. Carbon fiber has emerged as one of the ideal weight-saving materials that is increasingly being used to develop automotive drive shafts. Moreover, carbon fiber is also high in durability and effective in vibration control. At present, the high cost of carbon fiber automotive drive shafts is a leading factor that is likely to hinder the demand, particularly in developing regions. However, as the cost of carbon fiber is likely to reduce as the technology matures, carbon fiber is projected to gain considerable popularity during the forecast period.

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Drivers of Automotive Drive Shaft Market

• Europe is aiming to adopt new emission regulations under, which all automakers should meet 95 gram/Km target by the end of 2020. It is essential for automakers and suppliers to adopt fuel-saving and emission-reduction technologies such as drive shaft. The lightweight drive shaft helps automakers comply with stringent emission norms, thereby driving the demand from automakers. This, in turn, is estimated to propel the automotive drive shaft market.
• Developing countries such as India, China, Brazil, and Mexico have also planned to enact emission stage equivalent to Euro 6 in the near future. Adoption of such reforms by developing countries, which are also witnessing high vehicle production, is anticipated to drive the demand for emission control devices globally.
• Automakers have registered increased penetration of sports utility vehicles and multi-utility vehicles globally. Furthermore, with the advent of the vehicle drive technology, automakers have developed vehicles with all-wheel drive (AWD) and four-wheel drive (4WD).
• AWD and 4WD vehicles use two drive shafts, instead of one, to transmit power to both rear and front wheels in vehicles

Automotive Drive Shaft Market: Overview

• The global automotive drive shaft market is expected to expand at a CAGR of ~2% between 2019 and 2027
• Decline in demand for vehicles across globe due to the coronavirus pandemic has led to a decline in sales of vehicles, which hindered the demand for drive shaft in the 2nd quarter of year 2020, as demand directly depends on vehicle production
• Economic downturn in the first of half of 2020 is anticipated to witness a significant slowdown in the demand for vehicles. On the other hand, the demand for light commercial vehicles is increasing significantly across all the regions due to the expansion of home delivery services and last-mile delivery services, which is likely to drive the automotive drive shaft market.

Challenges for Automotive Drive Shaft Market

• Automakers, such as General Motor Company, BMW AG, and Audi AG are among the leading players developing electric vehicles (EVs). Electric vehicles are independent of traditional internal combustion engines to power vehicles.
• EVs can power vehicles without depending on traditional transmissions, drive shafts, power dividers, and differentials, as electric motors in EVs replace the traditional diesel powertrains in some applications. This, in turn, is anticipated to reduce the use of drive shafts in vehicles by automakers.