AUTOMOTIVE FILTERS Market

The global automotive filters market is expected to grow at a steady rate during the forecast period and primarily due to the increased presence of aftermarket players, rapid technological developments, and stringent regulatory norms. Moreover, increased investments in advanced filter technologies are expected to create an opportunity for the market players. However, the increased sales of electric vehicles are expected to restrain the growth of the global automotive filters market during the forecast period.

Considering the focus on increasing the lifespan of vehicles, the automotive component manufacturers such as Parker Hannifin, Denso Corporation, and Mahle GmbH have been expanding their aftermarket activities to capitalize on the high demand of automotive filters and other components. The increase in average vehicle age has created opportunities for automotive filter manufacturers to venture into the aftermarket business, especially for the old vehicles to meet the industry standards pertaining to vehicle emissions. The loyalty toward authorized repair shops is the highest among new vehicle owners and the customers owing to strict regulations of mandatory installation of automotive filters in the new and used vehicles. Reliability, quality, and warranty are a few of the factors that encourage a large number of vehicle owners to opt for authorized repair shops for the replacement of automotive filters. However, the owners of used and older vehicles choose to avail the products and services of key aftermarket players. Also, a majority of old vehicle owners opt for independent repair shops with price being a major determining factor.

Recently, there have been certain developments in the aftermarket services of automotive filters. Certain manufacturers are taking up important positions within the aftermarket supply chain. They have been capitalizing on the current market trends through introducing second service formats or remanufactured filter media to compete with independent automotive filter players to retain their customers. Furthermore, they are investing in customer experience optimization efforts such as partnerships with online retailers and distributors to ease the availability of automotive filters in the aftermarket. Hence, the increased presence of aftermarket players is expected to drive the growth of the global automotive filters market during the forecast period.

The automotive filter manufacturers are making heavy investments in research & development to develop technologies, which are aimed at minimizing the environmental emissions from the vehicles. The increased investment in research & development is expected to allow the manufacturers to develop innovative products and gain a competitive edge in the automotive filters market. Product innovation involves system integration and developing new functionality that are expected to enhance the quality of automotive filters. For instance, in February 2018, Cummins Filtration announced the development of FleetguardFIT, the first complete real-time filtration monitoring system that provides the customers with full visibility to check the quality of filters and forecast the oil life with the use of intelligent sensing and advanced data analytics.

One of the areas of focus by the manufacturers of automotive filters is the reduction of fuel emission. The shift toward the use of tier 4 engines, which provide a complete superior level of filtration, creates the need for advanced filter media and other technologies to suit the improved engines. The technology upgrade and high investments in the development of automotive filters create opportunities for the manufacturers to develop and innovate the products. Thus, the increased investments in filter development technologies is expected to be an opportunity for the global automotive filters market players.

The global sales of electric vehicles are growing rapidly owing to the growing awareness regarding environment protection and the government subsidies and schemes. The increased demand for electric vehicles is primarily due to the government initiatives toward carbon reduction owing to the growing environment concern. In Asia-Pacific, China has been dominating the electric vehicle market due to an increase in sales of electric vehicles. China has sold more than 507,000 electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle in 2016, which was an approximate growth of 53% from the previous year. Also, major manufacturers of vehicles are moving toward electrification, with focus on the development of hybrid, battery electric vehicle, and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Over the years, several countries across the world have been focusing on developing and adopting EVs and banning internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to reduce vehicular pollution. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), under the EV30@30 Scenario, the sale of EVs is expected to reach 44 million vehicles per year globally by 2030. As per the data of Edison Electric Institute (EEI), in the US, there were around 1.18 million EVs sold in the country in 2018. In addition to this, in 2018, the global sale of EVs increased by 64% compared to 2017.

Also, according to Electric Drive Transportation Association, the total electric vehicle sales in 2017 was 560,951, which was 498,426 in the year 2015. Electric vehicles primarily involve the use of only cabin and air filters. Additionally, power shortage, depletion of fossil fuels, increasing vehicular pollution, and the high costs of fuel used in the internal combustion (IC) engines are the primary factors that have led to the adoption of electric vehicles. Therefore, the increased sales of electric vehicles is expected to restrain the growth of the global automotive filters market during the forecast period. With the increasing sales of EVs to curb vehicular pollution, the sales of automotive filters are expected to remain affected during the forecast period. Thus, the increase in the sales of electric vehicles in the global market during the forecast period is expected to hamper the growth of the market.