Motor insurance represented 42% of all non-life gross premiums of the overall property and casualty insurance market in 2017. Motor and other traditional P&C lines, both personal and commercial, therefore, is likely to face a sluggish growth in the coming years. Motor insurance is highly correlated with the economic performance of countries. Although advanced economies are showing signs of recovery, motor insurance premiums are likely to remain under pressure, not from disruptive technologies, which drive changes in motor vehicle safety and impact both loss frequency and severity at the same time. The impact on motor insurance is likely to increase, as cars evolve and move up in the level of technological automation, from limited and partial automation to highly and fully automated functionalities. Motor insurance premium growth has been diverging in the advanced and developing markets over the last decade. Premium growth in the more mature advanced markets has stagnated, while motor insurance has expanded rapidly in the emerging markets. The outlook for advanced economies, however, is improving, and is expected to pick up, in line with economic growth over the forecast period. The emerging markets, meanwhile, is expected to slow slightly, but still outperform.

The number of new tire plants and expansion projects has increased in various parts of the United States with South Carolina getting a high share of investments. South Carolina stood as the number one tire-producing state with an estimated daily production of 103,000 units, due to the expansions by Bridgestone Americas, Continental Tire, and Michelin. The tire market in North America is very competitive with continuous investments from major tire manufacturers. With the US automotive industry showing signs of future growth, the tire manufacturers are investing strategically to establish manufacturing sites close to their consumer locations. In 2017, replacement light truck tire shipments reached a high-water mark. There is a continuing competition for small farm tire market shares. This is a developing market, especially on the radial side.

Crude oil and natural gas are the major sources of energy for the automotive industries since many decades. Due to the negative environmental impact by the increasing consumption of crude oil and natural gas worldwide, and high crude oil prices, biofuels, such as bioethanol, are considered as a successful alternative for crude oil and natural gas as a fuel for automotive industries. • Ethanol is the lowest cost octane with octane rating of 113, providing strategies to save lots of money for both manufacturers and consumers. The bioethanol market is directly affected by the consumption of fuel. Since past four decades, ethanol remains as an effective tool to reduce harmful emissions from the automotive. As ethanol is a pure compound with 35% oxygen, it burns more cleanly and completely than petroleum products. Ethanol helps to reduce emissions of air toxics, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, nitrous oxides, and exhaust hydrocarbons, by displacing aromatics in petroleum products.

According to Eurostat, over 75% of inland cargo transports within the European Union, i.e., about 1,750 billion metric ton-kilometer (tkm), travel by road. In some European countries, this percentage goes as high as 90%, or more. ■ As a result, the demand for commercial vehicles has been continually increasing in the region, owing to the growing logistics industry and increasing usage of light commercial vehicles, such as vans (for ride hailing services). The underlying factor driving the growth of the light commercial vehicle market in Europe is the increased preference for pickup trucks and small vans, over heavy-duty trucks and railways, for logistics. Thus, the demand for lightweight vehicle components to integrate into light commercial vehicles is expected to grow significantly, during the forecast period. This, in turn, is expected to augment the demand for high-pressure die casted products, like fuel filters.

The automotive transmission system has many advantages, apart from performing the simple purpose of transferring an engine's power to the wheels. Some of the advantages of automatic transmission vehicles are: They are simple and easier to use as it reduces the burden on the driver. Automatic shift of gears is faster and more accurate than most manual, as manual transmission shifting involves several degrees of driver movement, offering opportunity for mistakes and mis-timings. Due to higher planetary gear system in automatic transmission vehicles, surface contact between the gears increases, thereby, torque load spreads out over a greater area and reduces breakage.

The Chinese luxury car market has performed well during the 2018-19, despite a decrease in the sales of economic cars. Majority of the luxury car manufacturers, such as Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and BMW, have witnessed an increase in sales. There was significant demand for European made luxury cars in the country and this has laid initiatives to increase the production capacities. During January to November in 2018, Mercedes-Benz recorded sales of 603,089 units, representing an 11.7% growth as compared to the previous year. During the same period, BMW sold 577,058 units across China, representing 6.4% growth.

Automotive molding is the process of producing automotive parts/components via molding machines in which the inserted material has to undergo a cycle comprising injection, pressure holding (cooling), and plastic part demolding. Automotive molds are a crucial part of the overall automobile production process. For instance, to produce a new car, more than 90% of the parts (close to 20,000 parts) are dependent on molds for further batch processing. Automotive molds are highly dependent on the automotive production in a particular country/region. Thus, an upswing or a downswing in the industry can have a similar impact on the market for automotive molds. Automotive molds are classified into four categories based on technology: casting molds, injection molds, compression molds, and others. Based on application, the automotive mold market is categorized into two segments: exterior and interior parts. Based on vehicle type, the market is classified into three segments: passenger cars, light commercial vehicles, and heavy trucks.

Batteries have the capability to tackle one of the most important social, economic, and scientific challenges of the 21st century, i.e., the ability to store electrical energy for decentralized stationary or mobile applications. • As of 2018, approximately 85% of the total global consumption of lead went into the production of lead-acid batteries. Lead-acid batteries remain the lowest priced and most widely used rechargeable batteries in the automotive and industrial sector, across the Asia-Pacific region. Currently, these batteries are the only available mass-market technology for SLI applications in conventional vehicles, including those with basic micro hybrid systems. Moreover, the usage of an increasing number of automobiles in the region is expected to drive the demand for lead-acid battery in the coming years.

Japanese manufacturers dominate the market, as they enjoy strong brand awareness and have built extensive dealership networks across the country. In addition, most of them have local plants and benefit from Indonesia’s relatively cheap workforce and low taxes, which decrease their production costs. The domestic market is highly concentrated, with a few players accounting for the bulk of sales. However, in 2018, intense competition led to a slightly more fragmented market structure, with smaller players eating into the market shares of the leading companies. The top five players accounted for 85.3% of total retail sales in 2018, compared to 87% the year before.

Since 2015 the level of competition in the domestic automotive market has intensified, as the deceleration of the Colombian economy hampered vehicle demand. This affected the business strategies of the main market players, which opted to expand their promotional campaigns in the domestic market and search for export-led growth opportunities. The recovery of local vehicle demand since 2018 has further propelled the fight for market share. In this new context, producers began to renew their portfolios through the introduction of new light commercial vehicle models in order to address the rising consumer preference towards medium-sized and large vehicles.