NVH MATERIALS MARKET ANALYSIS

NVH Materials Market Overview

Noise, Vibration, and Harness (NVH) materials are specifically used to reduce noise and vibration of vehicles. NVH materials are used within the interiors of the vehicle to reduce noise and vibrations experienced due to occupants in the cabin, while it is also use on the exterior to reduce the noise and vibrations by the vehicle. The key sources of noise from a vehicle include engine, driveline, tires, brakes, and wind. Vibrations are usually experienced at the steering vehicle, seats, armrests, pedals, floor, and doors. NVH materials are acoustic devices which are generally classified as sound absorbing materials, sound barrier materials, and sound damping materials. Sound absorbing materials are porous polyurethane foam and their sound attenuating properties are determined by the normal specific sound absorbing coefficient. The sound barrier materials are non-porous and heavy, and usually used to barrier the transition. The sound damping materials are used to dampen the structural vibrations at the resonance structure to which these materials are attached. These materials are converted into products and then applied throughout the vehicle body.

Global NVH Materials Taxonomy

The global NVH Materials market is classified on the basis of the following segments:

• By product type
  • Rubbers
    • Nitrile Butadiene Rubber (NBR)
    • Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer (EPDM)
    • Other Rubbers
  • Thermoplastic Polymers
    • Polyurethanes(PU)
    • Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)
  • Engineering Resins
    • Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS)
    • Polycarbonates
    • Nylons
• By application
  • Absorbtion
  • Insulation
• By vehicle type
  • Light commercial vehicle
  • Heavy commercial vehicle
  • Passenger vehicle

Prevalent Scenario in NVH Materials Market

Rapidly increasing population, fast growing urbanization, and increasing demand for cars are the major drivers for the NVH materials market. According to the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, the global automotive production in 2016 accounted for 94.9 million units of which about 75% share was contributed by cars. Moreover, there are increasing warranty claims imposed by regulatory authorities in the interest of the customers against the noise, vibration, and harness. This has led the automotive manufacturers to aggressively invest in research and development to develop and incorporate NVH materials in the automotive environment. The consumers are focusing on the vehicle performance in terms of speed, horsepower, fuel economy, comfort, and NVH characteristics which affect their buying decision. Owing to their lightweight and flexibility, the foam laminates are widely used as insulation materials for floor insulation, door insulation, floor lining, and cushioning of vehicles. Rubber has higher strength, flexibility, density, and chemical stability as compared to foam and hence is excessively used in sealing and lining solutions. The changing regulations and standards imposed by international and local authorities regarding the specific vehicle weights in different part of the world have anticipated the growth of the light weight and acoustic products such as NVH materials to reduce the noise, vibration, and harness of the vehicle and reduce the overall vehicle weight, increase vehicle durability, and enhance its fuel efficiency.

Emerging economies such as China and India are experiencing immense growth in the automobile sector due to rapidly increasing population and rising living standards in these countries. Moreover, abundant availability of raw materials and cheap labor in these countries have led to the key global manufacturers to set up their operation units and cater to the increasing demand for automobile in these countries. This scenario has fueled the growth of the NVH materials in the Asia-Pacific region as compared to North America and Europe.

Fragmented Market

The global NVH materials market is highly fragmented due to the presence of many established and local players across the world. Major players involved in the market include BASF SE, The DOW Chemical Company, Exxonmobil Corporation, 3M Company, Mitsui Chemicals, Inc., Sumitomo Riko Company Limited, Covestro AG, Celanese Corporation, Huntsman Corporation, Lanxess AG, and Borgers AG.

Key Developments

Several key players in NVH materials market are focused on developing various strategies such as capacity expansion, mergers and acquisition and developing new innovative solutions in order to strengthen their global presence. For instance,

• In March 2019, Siemens AG, a multinational conglomerate company and one of the largest industrial manufacturing company, announced to acquire Noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) end-of-line quality testing business of Saab Medav Technologies GmbH, which develops and installs non-destructive testing (NDT) systems mainly to an automotive industry. Through this acquisition, Siemens strengthen their Simcenter portfolio with a range of highly configurable and innovative solutions for NVH quality testing.
• In July 2018, Huntsman, manufacturer of chemical products for consumers and industrial customers, launched ACOUSTIFLEX HFI technology, a polyurethane technology for NVH applications that delivers acoustic comfort in cars. ACOUSTIFLEX materials offer various processing advantages over acoustic materials such as faster demould times, which means better part production rates can be achieved.
• In November 2018, Continental AG, a German automotive manufacturing company, signed an agreement with Cooper Standard, one of the leading supplier of automotive components, on the purchase of its anti-vibration systems (AVS) business. Through this acquisition, the company will expand its global presence for noise reduction and anti-vibration technology in North America.