LUXURY VAN MARKET ANALYSIS

Luxury vans are automobiles larger than SUVs and relatively smaller than buses or trucks. They are mostly used for passenger transport for business or leisure applications. Depending on the custom-made or high-end designs, these vehicles can accommodate a group of 12 to 15 people. These are featured with additional comfort, safety, space, technology, and design in relation to conventional RVs. End users of these vehicles include the individuals and fleet owners, who utilize the vehicle for both, business and recreational activities such as camping and tourism.

Increasing consumer affordability and the requirement to ensure comfort and safety is expected to be the prominent industry growth driver

According to the World Bank Group, global GDP per capita has increased from US$ 9509.366 in 2010 to US$ 10,150.788 in 2016, prominently driven by the major economies that include the U.S., China, India, and Korea among few major other economies. This has led to significant increase in the gross national income, living standards, affordability and the expenditure on luxury vehicles by consumers across these major economies. Moreover, integration of advanced functions that include security technologies, electronic stability control, anti-lock brakes, TV entertainment system, remote start, massaging and heated seats have led to increased end user inclinations. Better performance and handling in relation to their conventional counterparts, is expected to provide higher traction to the luxury van market throughout the forecast period.

Luxury Van Market Taxonomy

On the basis of end users, the global luxury van market is classified into:

• Individual
• Fleet Operators

Next generation autonomous vehicles are the chief trends gaining highest industry traction

Significant achievements have been witnessed across the industry with R&D regarding the autonomous driving future. Several leading manufacturers that include Volkswagen, Daimler, and General Motors among many other automotive industry participants are increasingly investing in the development of the state of the art technologies for applications in autonomous vehicles. For instance, in 2016, Volkswagen debuted its MicroBus, an electric powered autonomous luxury van concept, which was the upgraded version of the classic Volkswagen model and is expected to be in production from 2022. According to Coherent Market Insights analysis of AV and its future, the development is still in its nascent stage, and is expected to take at least two decades to become mainstream. However, associated development of vehicle to everything (V2X) communication is estimated to garner increasing adoptions during the forecast period.

Fleet operators accounted for the largest industry share in 2016, and are expected to dominate the luxury van market through the forecast period

Increasing number of business tours owing to vast expanse of multinational firms, the corporate employee transportation requirements, entertainment & media industry, and political VIPs are expected to be the major factors driving the vehicle demands by  fleet providers. Individual owners accounted for the significantly small percentage of overall industry share.

Asia Pacific is estimated to witness highest growth rate over the forecast period

Increasing international travel & tourism industry in Asia Pacific, presence of large number of electronic and IT industry participants, growing manufacturing activities are among the major factors that will contribute to the industry growth. China, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, and Malaysia are among few of the major economies that are expected to garner high traction over the near future.

Industry presence was largely characterized by the consolidated share of few major industry players, contributing to over 50% of the luxury van market share. Chief industry participants include General Motors Company (GM), Daimler, Volkswagen Group, Nissan Motor Company, Ford Motor, Becker Automotive Design, Hyundai Motor, Honda Motor, Thor Industries, Renault, and Toyota Motor. Requirement to establish a strong foothold and cater to the evolving demands of customers, has led to increasing focus of players on M&A and portfolio expansion. For instance, Chevrolet Chrysler's Pacifica, Express Passenger, and Volkswagen's Caravelle generation 6 are among the next generation models introduced in 2017. Similarly, other major OEMs that include Nissan and Mercedes-Benz are planning to introduce advanced models of their pre-existing product offerings.