Frost & Sullivan: Automotive Carbon Fiber Composites to Grow at a Staggering Growth Rate until 2017

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• Publié par: frost-sullivan
• Nombre de lectures: 9
• Langue: English

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Frost & Sullivan: Automotive Carbon Fiber

Composites to Grow at a Staggering Growth

Rate until 2017

PR Newswire MOUNTAIN VIEW, California, July 11, 2012

- 90 percent of CFRP automotive applications use carbon-epoxy composites; with the remaining composed of carbon fibers and thermoplastic materials MOUNTAIN VIEW, California,July 11, 2012/PRNewswire/ -- Fuel efficiency and low carbon emission regulations are playing a major role in raising global demand to incorporate lightweight composites and replace metal parts in automotive components. Furthermore, major Western economies have begun to witness increased consumer spending, particularly in the luxury and super-luxury car segments, the majority of which utilize carbon composite components. Analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.chemicals.frost.com),Supply Chain Analysis of the Automotive Carbon Fiber Composites Marketfinds that the market earned revenues of$14.70 millionin 2010. This is likely to reach$95.50 millionby 2017. Growth is expected to be rapid with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30.6 percent. If you are interested in more information on this research, please send an email to Jeannette Garcia, Corporate Communications, at [e-mail], with your full name, company name, job title, telephone number, company email address, company website, city, state and country. Reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from passenger vehicles is correlated with the overall weight reduction of the vehicle. This will help European original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) meet the low carbon emission regulations. The U.S. automakers will also able to achieve the set average fleet fuel efficiency target of 35.0 miles per gallon (mpg) to 39.0 mpg by 2016, in the wake of the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) legislation. "However, the high costs of carbon fiber and existing production techniques results in higher manufacturing cycle times, which leads to low-volume production," notes Frost & Sullivan Senior Research Analyst Sandeepan Mondal. "Further, there are concerns over providing a waste disposal/recycling system for carbon composite parts, as well as substitution threats from glass-fiber-reinforced plastics." In addition, there is a lack of general engineering experience among OEMs that are reluctant to move away from the metal-based assembly lines, which they have already heavily invested in. To reduce the overall system cost of automotive components, automotive carbon-fiber- reinforced plastics (CFRP) suppliers should implement new fabrication techniques for CFRP parts such as resin transfer molding (RTM). This could also serve well to reduce the cycle times. Since these high-performance plastics and polymers are lightweight, they are also incorporated into the interiors and in under-the-hood parts, thus reducing the weight of the vehicle. Carbon-epoxy composites are best suited for automotive applications, given their high tensile strength, fire-retardant properties, and high fatigue resistance. All of these advantages have created increasing awareness of CFRP among automotive OEMs with regard to crashworthiness, styling and parts consolidation. "CFRPs provide a better alternative to metals and glass-reinforced plastics, as well as