China’s growing passenger vehicle market holds opportunities for the automotive aftermarket, especially in the areas of fuel economy, reduced emissions and advanced technologies, according to Todd Campau, product manager, aftermarket, North America, IHS Automotive.
Campau shared IHS’s insights into the Chinese marketplace at the 2015 Vision Conference presented by the Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA), the light vehicle aftermarket division of the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA).
The Chinese passenger vehicle parc continues to grow, particularly in provinces with huge populations and the developed regions in the country’s coastal areas. The top five provinces for vehicle parc growth are Shandong, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Hebie.
The country’s current parc is young, Campau noted – the average age at the end of 2013 was 4.8 years. However, in the next five to seven years, average passenger car age will go from 4.8 years to more than six years, he said. Also adding to vehicle parc growth is loosening credit in the country, which opens the door for increased sales.
The challenge to China’s new vehicle sales is the country’s goal of carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction. Currently, potential solutions range from electric vehicles, lightweight vehicles and traditional emissions-reduction technology.
Campau noted that traditional technology will contribute most of the CO2 reduction before 2020. At that point, the switch will be made to electric or hybrid vehicles to have even more CO2 reduction as they replace traditional technology.
He noted that lightweighting is important to CO2 reduction, but it will not be the mainstream solution due to safety and cost. However, it will be important to the adoption of electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles.
The 2015 AASA Vision Conference was held March 16-17. For more information about the conference, AASA and its global outreach services, visit www.aftermarketsuppliers.org or e-mail [email protected].
Editor’s note: AASA exclusively serves manufacturers of aftermarket components, tools and equipment, and related products, which support 710,000 employees in the United States. AASA is a recognized industry change agent – promoting a collaborative industry environment, providing a forum to address issues and serving as a valued resource for members. MEMA represents more than 1,000 companies that manufacture components and systems for use in motor vehicles and equipment in the light vehicle and heavy-duty, on- and off-highway commercial vehicle markets for the original equipment and aftermarket industries. Motor vehicle component manufacturers are the nation’s largest manufacturing sector with a total employment impact of 3.62 million employees – for every direct job in the motor vehicle supplier industry, another five jobs are created. MEMA represents its members through four divisions: AASA, the Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association (HDMA), Motor & Equipment Remanufacturers Association (MERA) and Original Equipment Suppliers Association (OESA). For more information on the motor vehicle component supplier industry, visit www.mema.org.
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