Automotive Clutch Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2021 - 2026)

The automotive clutch market was valued at USD 10 billion in 2020, and it is expected to reach USD 13 billion by 2026 by registering a CAGR of over 6% during the forecast period (2021 - 2026).

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the automotive clutch market is inevitable, as the market is primarily driven by increasing vehicle sales and production.

The growing trend and evolving consumer preference toward manual to semi-automatic or fully automatic transmission systems are expected to impact global market growth favorably. Furthermore, customer inclination toward more convenient modes of transmission and growing demand for passenger cars in emerging economies are also expected to drive the market demand over the forecast period.

In addition, OEMs focus on expanding production capacity by introducing new production facilities to meet growing demand, which is also expected to propel market growth. However, the replacement of manual clutch by torque convertor in automatic transmission systems may pose to be a challenge to the automotive clutch industry.

North America is expected to emerge as the most dominant regional automotive clutch market over the forecast period, which can be attributed to the growing demand for electric vehicles. Furthermore, high vehicle demand in emerging economies, such as China and India, is expected to drive growth across the Asia-Pacific market over the forecast period.

Key Market Trends

Increasing Adoption of Battery Electric Vehicles is Anticipated to Restrain the Growth

The automotive industry is experiencing a shift from conventional fuel vehicles to electric vehicles. Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are not equipped with transmission systems. The electric motors in battery electric vehicles (BEVs) have a flat power curve, i.e., they can run efficiently at any rpm, thereby eliminating the need to shift gears.

The growth of the global EV market has been due to their relatively low maintenance cost and growing environmental concerns. It is also fuelled by the shift toward sustainable transportation, which is expected to help reduce fossil fuel dependency. The demand for EVs is ever increasing in countries like Japan and China, which are two of the biggest automotive hubs in the Asia-Pacific.

Reduction in the growth of the automotive clutch market can also be anticipated in North America and Europe, owing to the aforementioned factors related to EVs. In addition to the standard-bearing Tesla manufacturing electric vehicle, subsidies offered by governments is helping many other automotive companies to ramp up their electric vehicle portfolio.

The Asia-Pacific Region is Estimated to Grow Significantly During Forecast Period

Asia-Pacific is expected to dominate the car frequency friction market over the forecast time period owing to the bulk of car sales in the region and technical developments, such as dual-clutch transmission systems and automatic and manual transmission systems. Throughout emerging economies such as China and India, the rise of the automobile manufacturing industry is pushing the car bottleneck market. Other factors such as the introduction of cheaper manual transmission clutches and customer preference for a comfortable mode of transmission also contribute to the market growth.

Factors such as increasing market penetration of premium cars and deployment of convenient powertrain systems in vehicles are accelerating the demand for the automotive clutch market. China is expected to overtake the United States as the world’s largest market for premium passenger cars, creating a huge potential for the growth of the automotive clutch market.

Moreover, the North American region also represents a modest share of sales in the world economy and is predicted to rise steadily over the expected period. This is attributed largely to increased car purchasing in the United States and Canada. Owing to the presence in Europe of a growing number of car manufacturers, the automotive clutch market is projected to rise more rapidly over the forecast period.

Competitive Landscape

The automotive clutch market is majorly held by transmission manufacturing firms that have a long-standing partnership with the major automobile manufacturing companies as their preferred suppliers. ZF Friedrichshafen, Magneti Marelli, Valeo, and BorgWarner are among the major players in the market. These companies are focusing on strengthening their position in the market by adopting various growth strategies. For instance,

• In November 2019, Borgwarner collaborated with the leading Chinese original equipment manufacturer ChangAn automobile to supply the highly integrated electro-hydraulic control unit and compact triple clutch P2 drive module for ChangAn's next-generation hybrid transmission technology.
• In May 2019, CK Holdings Co. Ltd, a holding company of Calsonic Kansei Corporation, announced that the completion of its previously announced acquisition of Magneti Marelli SpA from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV.

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