Surface treatment of automotive components refers to an industrial activity that involves treating a large number of metal components and a small amount of plastic components for corrosion resistance, wear resistance, and decoration to improve their performance and aesthetics, thereby meeting user requirements. The surface treatment of automotive components involves various processes, such as electrochemical treatment, coating, chemical treatment, heat treatment, and vacuum method. The surface treatment of automotive components is an important supporting industry in the automotive manufacturing industry, which plays an important role in improving the service life of automotive components, reducing maintenance costs, and improving the quality and safety of automobiles.
According to data from Shangpu Consulting Group, in 2018, the market size of China’s automotive component surface treatment was 18.67 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.2%. In 2019, due to the impact of the Sino US trade war and the decline in the prosperity of the automotive manufacturing industry, the growth rate of the automotive component surface treatment industry market slowed down, with an overall market size of around 19.24 billion yuan, an increase of 3.1% year-on-year. In 2020, affected by the COVID-19, China’s automobile production and sales declined significantly, leading to shrinking demand in the automobile parts surface treatment industry. The market size was 17.85 billion yuan, down 7.2% year on year. In 2022, the market size of the industry increased to 22.76 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of 5.1%. It is expected that by the end of 2023, the market size of the industry will further expand to 24.99 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.8%.
Since 2021, with the improvement of epidemic prevention and control situation and the acceleration of economic recovery, China’s automobile production and sales have achieved rapid recovery and growth. According to data from Shangpu Consulting Group, in 2022, the Chinese automotive market maintained a trend of recovery and growth, with production and sales reaching 27.021 million and 26.864 million units respectively, an increase of 3.4% and 2.1% year-on-year. Among them, the passenger car market has performed outstandingly, with production and sales of 23.836 million and 23.563 million vehicles, respectively, increasing by 11.2% and 9.5% year-on-year, surpassing 20 million vehicles for 8 consecutive years. Driven by this, the demand for automotive component surface treatment industry has also rebounded, with a market size of around 19.76 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.7%.
Looking ahead, Shang Pu Consulting believes that the Chinese automotive component surface treatment industry will maintain stable growth in 2023, mainly driven by the following factors:
Firstly, the production and sales of automobiles have rebounded. With the continuous recovery of the domestic economy and the improvement of consumer confidence, as well as the effectiveness of policies and measures introduced by the country to promote automobile consumption, it is expected that China’s automobile production and sales will continue to maintain a growth trend in 2023, reaching around 30 million vehicles, a year-on-year increase of about 5%. The growth of automobile production and sales will directly drive the demand growth of the automotive component surface treatment industry.
The second is the increasing demand for new energy vehicles. With the country’s policy support and market promotion for new energy vehicles, as well as the increasing demand for energy conservation, environmental protection, and intelligence from consumers, it is expected that the production and sales of new energy vehicles in China will reach around 8 million units in 2023, a year-on-year increase of about 20%. New energy vehicles have higher requirements for surface treatment of components, such as battery packs, motors, electronic control and other key components, which require surface treatment such as anti-corrosion, waterproof, and thermal insulation. Therefore, the rapid development of new energy vehicles will bring more opportunities to the automotive component surface treatment industry.
Thirdly, the policy of remanufacturing automotive parts is favorable. On February 18, 2020, the National Development and Reform Commission stated that further modifications and improvements are being made to the management measures for the remanufacturing of motor vehicle parts. This also means that the long-awaited policy measures for remanufacturing components will be accelerated, which will bring significant benefits to this industry. Remanufacturing of automotive components refers to the process of cleaning, testing, repairing, and replacing scrapped or damaged automotive components to restore their original performance or meet new product standards. The remanufacturing of automotive components can save resources, reduce costs, and reduce pollution, which is in line with the development direction of national energy conservation and environmental protection. The remanufacturing process of automotive components involves multiple surface treatment processes, such as cleaning technology, surface pre-treatment technology, high-speed arc spraying technology, high-efficiency supersonic plasma spraying technology, supersonic flame spraying technology, metal surface shot peening strengthening technology, etc. Driven by policies, the field of remanufacturing automotive components is expected to become a blue ocean, providing development opportunities for the automotive component surface treatment industry.
The fourth is the promotion of new technologies and processes. Industry 4.0, led by intelligent manufacturing, is currently the transformation direction of China’s manufacturing industry. At present, the overall automation level of China’s automotive manufacturing industry is relatively high, but there is a disconnect between the technology of automotive component surface treatment enterprises and the level of automotive vehicle manufacturing technology. The surface strengthening process of domestic automotive components is mainly based on traditional processes, and the degree of automation is relatively low. With the development and application of new technologies such as industrial robots and industrial internet, new processes such as robot electrostatic spraying, laser surface treatment, ion implantation, and molecular films are gradually being promoted within the industry, and the overall technical level of the industry will enter a new level. New technologies and processes can not only improve product quality and efficiency, reduce costs and pollution, but also meet the personalized and differentiated needs of customers, enhancing the competitiveness of enterprises.
In summary, Shangpu Consulting predicts that the market size of China’s automotive component surface treatment industry will reach around 22 billion yuan in 2023, with a year-on-year growth of about 5.6%. The industry has broad development prospects.
Post time: Nov-24-2023
