Automotive Active Seat Headrests Market

The global automotive active seat headrest market is projected to register significant growth during the forecast period. The growth of the global automotive active seat headrest market is expected to be driven by various factors such as growth in the number of road accidents and related neck injuries and increase in demand for luxury vehicles. However, the use of rear vehicle monitoring systems is expected to hamper the growth of the global market.

The rise in the number of road accidents and deaths are a major global concern. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2017, more than 1 million people were killed, and more than 50 million people are estimated to be injured on roads, every year, due to bad road conditions;90% of the road traffic deaths occur, primarily in the developing countries, rear-end collisions being one of their most prominent types of accidents. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported almost 2.4 million rear-end collisions on the US roads in 2016, including almost 700,000 crashes, resulting in injury and about 2,300 fatal rear-end crashes.

The rear end collision usually causes the neck to snap, quickly. Other kinds of injuries due to the rear end collisions include mild neck strain and dislocation of vertebrae bones of the spine. Such scenarios related to the rear end collision and neck injuries in vehicles raise concerns regarding the occupant’s safety, worldwide. The active seat headrest is a passive safety system in a vehicle, and it protects the passengers, primarily from neck injuries in case of a collision. This makes the active seat headrest, a critical aspect in ensuring safety and comfort, which is expected to drive the global automotive active seat headrests market growth during the forecast period.

The demand for the active seat headrest is limited in certain regions where the cost of the vehicle is still a more prominent factor than vehicle safety. However, the scenario is changing with a rise in the number of road accidents and awareness regarding vehicle safety. Such a change is expected to shift the impact of growth in the number of road accidents and related neck injuries on the global automotive active seat headrests market from moderate to high over the forecast period.

The safety feature demand along with drop in traffic congestion, growth of connected infrastructure, and transition from ownership to mobility-as-a-service (Maas) are the factors expected to drive investments and developments of semi-autonomous and autonomous vehicles, all over the world.

Thus, the major automotive and technology companies, such as AB Volvo, Apple Inc., Baidu Inc., BMW AG, Daimler AG, Nvidia Corporation, Delphi Automotive PLC, Ford Motor Company, General Motors Company, Google, and Apple Inc., are investing in the development of autonomous vehicles. For instance, Robert Bosch GmbH signed an agreement with Mercedes in 2017 to develop level 4 and level 5 of fully automated cars. The security of semi-autonomous and autonomous vehicles is vital in ensuring reliability and safety even in the event of a system malfunction.

The increase in awareness and adoption of advanced automobile safety systems in semi-autonomous and autonomous vehicles, result in the installation of advanced safety equipment, such as active seat headrests. The installation of active seat headrest is beneficial for protecting passengers from accidents as it ensures reduction of whiplash and neck-related injuries. Furthermore, the advanced versions of active seat headrests connected to the electronic control system of the vehicle are capable of recognizing the severity of a rear-end collision. This system activates the headrest once the severity of such an event increases beyond preset limit, moving it forward and upward.

Thus, the development of semi-autonomous and autonomous vehicles is expected to offer promising growth opportunities to the global automotive active seat headrests market players during the forecast period.

Major automotive vehicle manufacturing companies are integrating advanced technologies, such as rear vehicle monitoring systems and digital rear-view systems for enhancing vehicle safety. The rear vehicle monitoring system uses a rear bumper-mounted radar to measure the distance to the cars approaching from behind or in neighboring lanes. This system preemptively warns the driver with an alarm and warning lamp if there is a danger of collision while changing the lanes.

For instance, all the newly introduced Mazda vehicles are equipped with rear vehicle monitoring systems. This system is similar to the blind spot monitoring system and is designed to work in all weather conditions and detect all types of vehicles, including motorcycles, and alert the driver. Additionally, in 2018, Ficosa International S.A., a Spanish multinational corporation, developed the digital rear-view system for the Audi e-tron, which uses cameras and displays instead of the traditional external side mirrors, ensuring safe, efficient, and more comfortable driving. Such systems are used to prevent rear end collision and limit the adoption of active seat headrests. The increase in demand for rear vehicle monitoring systems and digital rear-view systems are expected to restrain the market growth during the forecast period.

The demand for active seat headrest is currently high. However, the development of rear vehicle monitoring systems and digital rear-view systems is expected to shift the impact of use of rear vehicle monitoring systems on the global automotive active headrest market from low to moderate over the forecast period.