The hydroforming is a component manufacturing process, where fluid pressure is applied to ductile material such as brass, aluminium, low alloy steel, and stainless steel to form into desired component shapes. This process helps to create complex parts with a high strength-to-weight ratio. In this process instead of welding parts together, a unibody component structure created with the help of specialized die molds.
Vehicle weight plays a crucial role in vehicle fuel economy. The government regulations related to vehicle economy is compelling auto manufacturers to come up with innovative solutions for reducing weight of vehicles. For instance, according to the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) requirement, by 2025, the average light vehicle fuel economy should be 54.5 mpg in the U.S. Moreover, the OEMs and component manufacturers across the globe are focused on implementing various manufacturing processes and advanced technologies to reduce vehicular weight without compromising the structural integrity of the vehicles. Furthermore, usage of hydroforming provides versatility in component manufacturing, as it can be used for all metals and alloys. For instance, steel, copper, aluminum, brass, alloys components can be manufactured into parts using hydroforming process. It also increases the quality and precision of the manufacturing process. These factors are expected to drive growth of the global automotive hydroformed parts market over the forecast period.
However, high tool costs is expected to reduce adoption of this process. This is attributed to equipment that are utilized to execute the hydroforming operations include high cost to purchase, maintain, or upgrade. Moreover, some hydroforming process involve potentially lengthy cycle times. These factors are expected to hamper market growth over the forecast period.
Europe held dominant position in 2018 in the automotive hydroformed parts market
Europe held dominant position in the market in 2018, followed by Asia Pacific and North America. Moreover, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the U.K. are some of the major growth engines of the automotive hydroformed parts market in this region. Increasing government regulations for vehicle economy creates a conducive environment for growth of the market in the region. For instance, in April 2019, the EU announced that the average fuel economy across the manufacturers’ fleets should be equivalent to around 57 U.S. miles per gallon mpg in 2021. EU is targeted to increase it to 92 miles per U.S. gallons by 2030. Owing to this, the component manufacturers and OEMs in the region are opting for hydroforming process to manufacture the automotive components such as exhaust system, sub frame, side grills among others.
Moreover, Asia Pacific automotive hydroformed parts market is expected to exhibit the highest CAGR over the forecast period. India, China, and Japan are the key growth engines of the automotive hydroformed parts market in the region. India and China are one of the fastest growing market for automotive industry. Moreover these countries are adopting stringent fuel efficiency norms, which is expected to drive the market for hydroformed parts in the region. For instance, in 2017, The India government implemented the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) norms for its petrol, diesel, LPG, and CNG passenger vehicles.
Figure 1. Global Automotive Hydroformed Parts Market Share (%), by Region, (2018)
Increasing demand for high strength and cost effective components is expected to drive growth of the light commercial vehicles segment of automotive hydroformed parts market over the forecast period
Hydroforming is one of the most cost effective method for creating asymmetrical parts for the automotive industry. Moreover, majority of the components that are used in a vehicles have irregular shapes, owing to various NVH design requirements. Manufacturing these parts using traditional stamping method is cumbersome and expensive compared to hydroforming process. Moreover, usage of hydroformed process provides higher strength to weight ratio, which results in better structural integrity of the vehicle. These factors increased adoption of hydroformed components light commercial vehicles in the recent past. For instance, in 2015, Ford introduced its structural cage made by hydroforming technology in its F-150 pick-up trucks. Instead of welding, the structural cage’s joints and seams are riveted and glued. Usage of this hydroformed part results in weight reduction and provides greater structural reinforcement between the outer and inner box.
Figure 2. Global Automotive Hydroformed Parts Market Share (%), By Vehicle Type, 2018
Source: Coherent Market Insights Analysis
Major players operating in the global automotive hydroformed parts market include Alf Engineering, F-TECH, Magna International, Metalsa, Nissin Kogyo, Sango Co., Ltd., Tata Precision Tubes, Tenneco, Thyssenkrupp AG, Vari-Form, and Yorozu.
Hydroforming is a process, in which a ductile material such as brass, aluminium, low alloy steel, and stainless steel is shaped into a unibody component structure. The process does not need any type of welding or rivets to join the components. In this process complex shapes are produced with the help of die forming, where high-pressure hydraulic fluid is compressed at room temperature to form a die. In automotive industry, the usage of hydroformed parts are increasing substantially owing to its cost-effectiveness and rigid strength.
Market Dynamics
Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) across the globe are focusing on to manufacture lighter stronger and rigid components for the vehicle. Moreover, the government regulations related to fuel efficiency is compelling auto manufacturers to opt for weight reduction in their vehicles, which is expected to drive the market growth over the forecast period. For instance, in 2014, Chevrolet Corvette Stingray was redesigned and released with a hydroformed aluminium chassis. It helped Corvette to reduce weight and helped to increase stiffness when required. Hydroformed parts are lighter, stronger, and has fewer parts than a conventional stamped parts. Moreover, hydroformed parts has lesser components as it does not require rivets or welding to join the components. Tube hydroforming is the most commonly used method in the automotive industry. The typical hydroformed components, which are manufactured by tube hydroforming in a vehicle includes bumper system, pillar, space frame, and exhaust components among others.
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