Market Overview

Automotive films and sheets market size (based on shipment volume in domestic manufacturers, including those for export) in 2021 rose to 139,120 thousand square meters, 101.6% of the previous year. The details were as follows: Interior decorative films 117,090 thousand m2 (98.6% on YoY), exterior decorative films 42,850 thousand m2 (101.7% on YoY), window films 3,200 thousand m2 (101.3% on YoY), laminated glass interlayers 119,200 thousand m2 (101.7% on YoY), and resin sheets for automotive display front plates 730 thousand m2 (112.3% on YoY).

Demand for automotive films and sheets is overall associated with the number of automobiles produced. After substantial decline in accordance with decreased number of automobiles produced in 2020, the demand has somewhat recovered in 2021, but, is expected to decrease again in 2022, because of urban lockdown in Shanghai and Guangzhou due to increased omicron variant of coronaviruses in China where more than 30% of worldwide automobiles produced and where both the production and distribution of automobiles being stagnant, together with lengthy Ukraine invasion by Russian and rising interest rates causing sluggish consumption in the US market. Still, as China has lifted the lockdown from the latter half of 2022 the distribution of components and vehicle bodies has activated, which has led the automobile production on the way to rapid recovery, making the automotive films and sheets market in 2023 to seemingly expand to 105.8% of the previous year.

Noteworthy Topics

Laminated Glass Interlayers

Automotive laminated glass interlayers can be classified into normal films equipped with basic natures such as safety, security, and ultraviolet light cut, and functional films equipped with sound insulation and thermal insulation in addition to basic natures.  In recent years, functional films are more in demand, such as sound-insulation films that suppress noise when driving, and wedge-shaped films for HUDs (Head-Up Displays).

While a HUD system is effective in improving safe driving experiences, projector images from a projector onto standard windshields look overlapped and blurry (so-called ghosting images) due to refraction of light, which reduces visibility and spoils the safety supposed to be assured. Interlayer film manufacturers try to control the optical refraction by precisely designed wedged angled surfaces of a film, thereby achieving clear projection images enabling high visibility.

Unlike the conventional HUDs offering limited information such as speed and driving routes, demand for installing AR-HUDs has increased in recent years to project alert information and navigation images onto the actual scenery available from a driving seat, or important road information based on real-time data collected from sensors, has increased the demand for preventing ghost images in wider areas than wedged interlayers. For such demand, development and suggestions of ghost-image-preventative films with wider view angles for AR-HUDs are underway.

Future Outlook

Development of wider ranges of products not limited to the markets of E-CASE (Connected, Autonomous, Share & Service, Electric + Environment) and existing OEM allows film & sheet manufacturers to discover new market buds. In addition to product development and market exploration that can be done not just by following the needs but by changing the conventional ideas, they also need to enter new-generation automotive-related markets about to be generated outside the existing supply chains such as OEMs Tier1, Tier2, etc.

It is projected to take more time until next-generation automobiles such as extra-small mobilities and flying cars to widespread. Because the market entry from the initiation period goes through small market size, it is highly possible for sales expansion not to come right away. Still, co-development with other newly-entered companies is expected to lead to new demand acquisition that is unachievable in the world of conventional automobiles.

Automotive films & sheets manufacturers have long developed and suggested products to meet the quality demanded by OEMs and Tier1 companies. With regard to matured products, prices are the significant factor for them to choose the suppliers. On the other hand, in the next-generation automotive-related market, IT or venture companies from different industries are involved from early on, making manufacturers of components including films and sheets tend to position as development partners rather than user-and-supplier relationships. Therefore, there is room for films & sheets manufacturers to press ahead with technological suggestions and co-development. The keys hereafter are to achieve co-generation of next-generation mobility that is ahead of E-CASE by combining the technologies from each company with new ideas obtained through growth of the new market, and how to propel technological development and suggestions that can contribute in there.

*E-CASE is the coined word from capital letters of Connected, Autonomous, Share & Service, and Electric, 4 innovative fields for automotive industry and that of “Environment” field being added, defined by Yano Research Industry as new theme for the entire automotive industry.

Research Outline