Brazil's economic recovery improved at the beginning of 2018, with consumer confidence showing more robust gains. Previously, this most important indicator remained weak, despite improvements in other related variables such as employment, interest rates, and household earnings. Despite the negative effects of Truckers' Strike that saw a short-term impact on the macroeconomic situation, we continue to hold a bullish vehicle sales forecast of 16.6% growth in 2018, reaching a total industry volume of 2.61mn units.

We have revised down our forecast for new vehicle sales in Mexico to a contraction of 10.0% in 2018. This will see sales volumes reach a total of 1.4mn units by year-end 2018. Breaking down this forecast, we expect passenger car sales to fall 13.4%, light commercial vehicle (LCV) sales to experience a 5.7% contraction, while heavy truck and bus sales grow 14% and 9.8% respectively. In 2018, we expect sales of passenger cars and LCVs (which includes pickup trucks and SUVs) to decline as rising borrowing costs, high fuel prices and uncertainty caused by the renegotiation of the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the mid-2018 presidential election weigh on consumer spending. For heavier commercial vehicles, we expect a boom in sales in 2018 due to regulation changes coming into effect on January 1 2019, which require new heavy commercial vehicles to be either Euro VI or EPA 2010 compliant. The implementation of this regulation will prompt heavy vehicle fleet owners to rush to buy cheaper Euro IV vehicles before the deadline.

Automotive safety electronics are electronic systems that enhance user experience and convenience; they are categorized by systems and sensors. The increased proliferation of safety electronics solutions offers a centralized control and seamless exchange of data and information between various systems within passenger cars. Further, there is a growing need to meet consumer demand for more interconnectedness between multiple systems in passenger cars, owing to the rising demand for connected cars and the integration of smartphones with these cars. This further increases the demand for advanced and integrated automotive safety electronics solutions among market vendors.

Master Motors and Changan Automobile's joint venture to produce vehicles in Pakistan highlights how the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor will make it easier for Chinese automakers to break into the Pakistani automotive market, which offers huge growth potential due to low vehicle ownership rates and a large population. The growing presence of Chinese brands in the country will pose a challenge to the existing Japanese automakers who have continuously dominated the domestic market

The polyimide films market accounted for USD 1,149.3 million in 2016, and it is projected to gain higher market share over the forecast period. The market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 8.6% by revenue owing to the growing application scope of PI films. Development in aerospace, automotive, electronics, and labeling industry is augmenting the product demand.

Polyisobutylene (PIB) market has been segmented on the basis of product, application, and region. Chemicals including petroleum ether, isobutene, and aluminum chloride are used for the production of polyisobutylene. On the basis of product, PIB is categorized into high molecular weight, medium molecular weight, and low molecular weight polyisobutylene. Polyisobutylene, also known as polyisobutene, is a synthetic rubber, or elastomer, which is manufactured by the polymerization of isobutylene. The product is used in numerous applications including adhesive & sealants, fuel additives, and automotive rubber components. PIB is also used in the production of chewing gums, roofing membranes, gas mask, and polymer modification, and sporting equipment.

Total vehicle sales decreased by 27.1% y-o-y in June 2018 and 38.3% y-o-y in H118. Adding to the myriad risks to automakers is the increased risk of theft from automaker stocks of spare parts. With imported components, the national shortage of parts is taking hold at the same time as the country's vehicle fleet is continuing to age, creating unprecedented levels of excess demand for parts.  Our Country Risk team has raised their end-of-year forecast for inflation rate in 2018 to 539,800%, highlighting the hyperinflation gripping the economy. Owing to this, the trade of automobiles (used and new) is most likely occurring in US dollars rather than the local currency with anecdotal evidence suggesting this is the case.

The report presents the analysis of the global actuators and valves market based on type, application, and geography. Based on type, the market is bifurcated into actuators types and valve types. Electric actuators are more preferred type of actuators and the largest revenue contributor as it is fast and performs well in harsh conditions such as in high pressure and temperature. The global actuators and valves market is further analyzed by several valve types such as quarter-turn valves, multi-turn valves, and control valves. Various applications of actuators and valves are in oil & gas, paper & pulp, mining, water & wastewater, food & beverages, energy & power, automotive and others (chemical, iron & steel, and construction) sector. Moreover, the market report provides a brief analysis based on its distribution across geographical regions including North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA.

The four stages of the polymer coated fabrics market value chain include procuring raw materials, manufacturing coated fabrics, applying PVC and PU coating, and application in various end-use industries such as automotive, protective clothing, and furniture & seating. Major raw material providers, such as Solvay and Inovyn, offer a wide variety of PVC and PU polymer grades and additives for manufacturing coating materials. Different technologies such as spray coating, dip coating, extrusion or calendaring are used to improve the core properties of fabrics.

The automotive appearance chemicals market has been segmented based on three levels. Functional segmentation of automotive appearance chemicals market has been done on the basis of key products. The products include: