AUTOMOTIVE DRIVE SHAFT MARKET ANALYSIS

Global automotive drive shaft market has been facing the challenge of fluctuating raw material prices. Drive shafts are majorly produced using metals like steel which is prone to frequent price fluctuation in the global commodities market. Steel prices largely depend upon the global demand-supply dynamics and can witness sudden price spikes due to supply constraints or higher demand from countries. Higher steel prices directly impacts the production cost of drive shafts. For drive shaft manufacturers, unstable input prices pose major challenges to maintain stable margins. It becomes difficult for them to absorb such volatile raw material costs and may need to pass on some burden to OEMs by increasing the product prices. This price volatility in the raw materials can affect the competitiveness of the drive shaft market players and also impact the procurement decisions of automakers.

Market opportunities: Increasing focus on reducing vehicle weight for improved fuel efficiency

The global automotive drive shaft market is presented with opportunities owing to increasing focus of automakers to reduce vehicle weight in order to improve fuel efficiency. Drive shafts, being a significant component of automobiles, have huge scope for weight optimization. With growing environmental regulations worldwide mandating lower vehicle emissions, automotive OEMs are under pressure to enhance the fuel economy of their vehicles. One of the effective ways to boost fuel efficiency is to lessen the curb weight and optimize lightweight components inside vehicles. This is where drive shaft manufacturers can capitalize on their expertise and introduce new lightweight drive shaft designs using advance materials like carbon fiber composite and aluminum. Development of next-generation lightweight drive shafts can enable automakers to reduce vehicle weight by 10-15 kgs, thereby enhancing fuel efficiency by 4-6%. The drive to engineer lightweight drive shafts is expected to drive new product development activities and growth opportunities for automotive drive shaft market players in the coming years.