A new report on automotive plastics estimates the global market demand could top $46 billion by 2018.
MarketsandMarkets, a consulting group with offices in Dallas, said in a June 5 news release that its new study of the future use of plastics in the global auto industry is expected to grow more than 13 percent annually between 2013 and 2018. That should translate into sales of $46.1 billion by 2018 compared to $21.6 billion last year, the group said.
That forecast is even higher than the expected sales in another research report released earlier this year. In March, Albany, N.Y.-based Transparency Market Research estimated sales of $32.9 billion by 2018. That report used a more conservative base of $15.1 billion in sales during 2012.
MarketsandMarkets' report notes that 50.9 percent of automotive plastics is used in Asia, with the European market consuming another 28 percent of plastics and North America coming in with 11.3 percent of the business. Polypropylene the biggest single base resin, making up 37 percent of all plastics used.
The drive to reduce vehicle weight to improve mileage will prompt increased use of plastics globally, the researchers said.