Automotive Wire and Cable Materials Market Overview
Automotive wire and cable materials market size is forecast to reach US$3.1 billion by 2027, after growing at a CAGR of 4.0% during 2022-2027. Wires and cables are the most important components in the automotive industry. A wire is used to carry electricity, to bear the mechanical loads, to transmit telecommunication signals, for heating jewelry, clothing, automotive, or any industrially manufactured parts like pins, bulbs, and needles. A cable is used for power transmission, telecommunication signals, or carrying electricity. The automotive wire and cable materials could be segregated into Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), Cross-linked polyethylene cable (XLPE), Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), and other materials such as silicone and EBR by product types. PVC and XLPE wire and cable insulation materials are the most used product types owing to their favorable physical characteristics and applicability over a wide temperature range. The most typical type of wire used in most automotive applications is automotive cross-link wire and automotive primary wire. General Purpose high-temperature automotive wire is ideal for under-hood automotive wiring applications with hard-to-fit areas. The rapid growth of the automotive industry has increased the demand for automotive wires and cables thereby, fueling the market growth. Furthermore, the flourishing automotive industry is also expected to drive the automotive wire and cable materials industry substantially during the forecast period.
COVID-19 Impact
The coronavirus pandemic has impacted the automotive industry to a great extent stuttering the manufacturing industry. Currently, industries such as aerospace, automotive, and energy industry are highly impacted. Due to social distancing policy, most of the manufacturing plants of automobiles were shut down, which declined the production of automotive wires and cable materials. Global automobile demand due to COVID-19, the flexibly adjust production capacity in anticipation of future economic recovery and focus on further cost reduction activities to rebuild a stronger and leaner business structure. The automobile manufacturers have pledged to work toward becoming a mega-supplier with the wiring harness business at the core. The automotive manufacturers want to achieve this by creating products for electric vehicles, such as high-voltage wiring harnesses; electrical products for electronic control systems used in automobiles. According to the Society of Indian automobile manufacturers, the automobile industry faced a drop of 14.4% in 2021. However, the demand for Wires and cables in the automotive industry for equipment manufacturing will help to raise market trends during the forecast period.
Report Coverage
The report: “Automotive Wire and Cable Materials Market Report – Forecast (2022-2027)”, by IndustryARC, covers an in-depth analysis of the following segments of the automotive wire and cable materials market outlook.
By Material Type: Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), Polypropylene (PP), Cross-linked Polyethylene (XLPE), Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU), Polyphenylene Ether (PPE), and Others
By Vehicle Type: Passenger vehicles (Compact Cars, Sub-compact Cars, Mid-size Cars, Sedan, Luxury Cars, and Vans)), LCV, and HCV. Two/Three Wheelers (Scooters, Bikes)
By Geography: North America (USA, Canada, and Mexico), Europe (UK, Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Russia, Belgium, and Rest of Europe), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand, Indonesia, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Rest of APAC), South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, and Rest of South America), Rest of the World (the Middle East, and Africa)
Key Takeaways
The automotive wires and cable materials are available in various standards including ISO, JASO, and SAE with the development of the automotive component industry and broadening automotive production.
The increase in the production of hybrid electric vehicles is expected to drive the automotive wire and cable material market in the coming years.
Automotive Wire and Cable Materials Market Segment Analysis – By Material Type
The PVC segment held the largest share in the automotive wire and cable materials market in 2021 and is growing at a CAGR of over 3.5% during 2022-2027. PVC wire and cable insulation materials are the most used product types owing to their favorable physical characteristics and applicability over a wide temperature range. PVC has a good combination of characteristics that are used for wire insulation and cable jacketing. PVC is important in shock-absorbing vehicle components such as 'soft' dashboards, reducing injury in the case of impact. Fabrics coated with PVC are often used in life-saving vehicle airbags, whilst the fire retardant properties of the material contribute to the overall safety of a vehicle. According to the European Commission, the automotive industry is contributing 7% to European GDP. The rapid growth in the automotive wires and cables is owing to the growth of the automotive industry during the forecast period.
Automotive Wire and Cable Materials Market Segment Analysis – By Vehicle Type
The passenger vehicles sector is segmented accounted for around 40% of the market share in 2021. Key drivers for the automotive wire and cable segment increased in the electronic components used in cars and the increase in demand for automotive safety systems. and the increase in demand for automotive safety systems. The addition of electronic components in cars provides a novel niche for tier-two suppliers in South Korea. Electronic component manufacturers like LG and Samsung see the convergence of the automotive markets with their business. South Korea can either export these parts or use its excellent manufacturing base to complete the assembly of passenger vehicles. These then could be easily exported because of the proximity of excellent ports and logistical systems. According to the association for manufacturing technology, the integration of electronics in cars will positively boost the South Korean automotive industry. South Korean exports of electric vehicles expanded by 65.9% while exports of the lithium-ion batteries needed to power electric vehicles grew by 4.35% in the second half of 2020. The effective wiring harness system in automotive is constructively influencing the growth of the global automotive wire and cable materials market during the forecast period.
Automotive Wire and Cable Materials Market Segment Analysis – By Geography
Asia-Pacific region held the largest share in the automotive wire and cable materials market in 2021 up to 35% owing to the growth of end-use industries like appliances, automobiles, electronics, and others. Increasing emphasis on safety and functionality and implementation of vehicle safety regulations will influence demand emphatically. The growth in the Sales of passenger cars in China rose 4.4% year on year to 20.15 million units in 2021 as strong demand for new energy vehicles (NEVs) continued to underpin market growth. international wiring harness manufacturers deploy the promising Chinese market by way of acquiring or establishing wholly-owned companies or joint ventures with local companies, hoping to support co-funded auto plants and homegrown automakers. Thus, with the flourishing automobile industry, there will be an upsurge in the demand for Automotive wire and cable components, which is anticipated to drive the automotive wire and cable materials market in the Asia-Pacific region.
Automotive Wire and Cable Materials Market – Drivers
Increasing Automotive Production
Automotive wires and cable materials are in demand in the automobile sector due to their excellent feature safety and comfort. The growth in vehicle production, the launch of hybrid flex-fuel vehicles, connected cars, increasing scope of digitation in cars are driving the market. According to the International Trade Administration (ITA), China is the world's largest motor vehicle market and is expected to reach 35 million by 2025 in automotive manufacturing. Thus, increasing automotive production will require more automotive components, which will act as a driver for the automotive wire and cable materials market during the forecast period.
Improved Cable Performance Driving the Market
The driving factor behind the growth of the automotive cable market is the advanced performance of the automotive cables with advanced technological research. The increase in the number of electronic components used in vehicles and the increase in demand for automotive safety systems is owing to the better performance cables. The installation of the multicore cables is very quick. They are highly flexible and are easy to use and handle. So most automotive manufacturers are preferring multicore cables for different applications. Cables are ideal for a variety of general-purpose applications including machine tools, circuits and internal appliance wiring. It is also available for use in commercial, residential and industrial buildings. According to the electronic components industry association, the sales of electrical components had increased by 68% in 2021. The increasing use of electrical components in the engine and gearbox compartment is projected to increase demand for automotive cables over the forecast period.
Automotive Wire and Cable Materials Market – Challenges
Fluctuating cost of materials
Major raw materials used in the production of cables are copper, aluminum, steel, polymer compounds etc. The cable industry can be considered a conversion industry. This means that material costs determine a large part of the costs of the end product, typically over 60%. As a result, cable manufacturers need to strive for perfection in the transformation processes in the company. That’s where the profits are made. Also, a close eye needs to be kept on the working capital. The expensive raw materials and work-in-progress (WIP) can consume excessive amounts of the financial resources of a company. The market has experienced typical fluctuation in the prices of raw materials used the cable production due to the pandemic. Copper rates have seen an increasing trend since the dip seen during the pandemic shutdown in March 2020. Copper trading at US$4617.50 / MT on March 2020 on according to London Metal Exchange (LME). Since then, Copper prices have continuously shown upward momentum with day prices reaching US$10,724 per ton on May 2021. Thus, the copper prices have been fluctuating in the range of USD 9K-10.5K per MT till July 2021. Finally, the large inventories of non-ferrous metals (Cu, Al) can pose a significant price variation risk on the company. Thus, rise prices and its fluctuation is expected to create major challenge in the pricing of products by the manufacturer in the coming years.
Automotive Wire and Cable Materials Industry Outlook
Technology launches, acquisitions, and R&D activities are key strategies adopted by players in the Automotive Wire and Cable Materials market. Automotive Wire and Cable Materials market top companies are
Sumitomo Electric Industry
Yazaki Corporation
Leoni AG
Coficab Tunisie SA
Lear Corporation
Allied Wire & Cable Inc
Coroplast Fritz Muller GmbH & Co. KG
Delphi Auto Delphi Automotive PLC motive PLC
Draka Holdings B.V
Furukawa Electric
Recent Developments
On December 2021 – Valens Semiconductor and Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. announced that they are collaborating in the field of A-PHY technology and deployments. The companies will work together to ensure that Sumitomo Electric’s wiring harness systems meet the demand.
On April 2021 InnoVites announces that Hitachi Cable America is completing the roll-out of Cable Suite as their innovative IT platform. With the implementation of Cable ERP, based on Microsoft Dynamics, HCA-NH will benefit from an industry-specific solution
