Automotive Catalyst Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecast (2022 - 2027)

The global automotive catalyst market is projected to register a CAGR of over 3% during the forecast period (2021-2026).

The automotive catalyst market was negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic due to nationwide lockdowns, strict social distancing measures, and disruption in the global supply chain networks. Most of the automotive production plants were shut down. The declining automotive industry, with the temporary shutdown of automotive manufacturing units and various industrial activities due to the ongoing pandemic scenario, led to a decline in the demand for automotive catalysts. According to OICA, automobile production declined by around 16% in 2020 compared to 2019.

Key Highlights

• Over the medium term, the major factor driving the growth of the automotive catalyst market is the stringent emission standards implemented by governments across the world.
• On the flip side, the rise in the popularity of electric vehicles and the slowdown in global automobile production are expected to hinder the growth of the automotive catalyst market.
• Europe is expected to dominate the market and have the largest market share globally, owing to the adoption of stringent emission standards in the region.

Key Market Trends

The Passenger Cars Segment to Dominate the Market

• Internal combustion engines produce toxic emissions due to incomplete combustion in the engine.
• Apart from the fact that CO is poisonous to humans, the stagnant air masses over urban areas can hold the pollutants for long periods. When sunlight interacts with these pollutants, the formation of ground-level ozone occurs due to the chemical reaction between HC, NOx, and sunlight.
• The automotive catalyst is used in the exhaust system of vehicles to control the emission of harmful gases, such as hydrocarbons, carbon oxides, nitrogen oxides, as these catalysts help in converting harmful gases into less toxic gases, such as nitrogen and carbon dioxide.
• In 2020, the total number of passenger cars produced globally was 55.83 million units witnessing a decline of around 16.9%. The decline in the sales of passenger cars is expected to hinder the growth of the automotive catalysts in the forecast period.
• The governments of developing nations are taking initiatives in concern of emission control by spending hugely on new emission controlling technologies like fuel efficiency, which is expected to boost the growth of the automotive catalyst market. A four-way catalyst has better efficiency than older catalysts.
• The aforementioned factors are expected to show a significant impact on the automotive catalyst market during the forecast period.

Europe to Dominate the Market

• Europe is expected to dominate the automotive catalyst market due to the increasingly stringent emission standards in the region.
• Stringent government regulations to restrain pollution surged the demand for automotive catalysts in recent times. For instance, Euro 6d-TEMP was implemented in September 2019, which limits the NOx emission to 85.8mg/km for petrol cars and 114.4mg/km for diesel cars.
• In 2020, the total number of passenger cars produced in Europe witnessed a 22.3% downfall. Almost all the major automobile producers in Europe witnessed a decline in production due to the COVID-19 impact.
• Between January and December 2020, passenger car sales in Europe fell by around 21% to approximately 14 million units. Sales began to decline in mid-March as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. In May 2020, year-on-year sales were down 57%, but as economies reopened, car sales began to rebound. The month-on-month sales more than doubled in May and continued to rise in June.
• The abovementioned factors are expected to show a significant impact on the market in the coming years.

Competitive Landscape

The automotive catalyst market is partially fragmented. Some of the major companies operating in the market include BASF SE, Tenneco Inc., Johnson Matthey, Klarius Products Ltd, and Umicore.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support