The automotive load floor is a vital part of the vehicle’s interior; it serves as a basis for seating, transportable cargo or other elements of the interior itself. The load floor improves structural strength, noise insulation, and thermal protection. However, as the automotive industry is changing and improving its products, the automotive load floor also evolves and improves its performance.
Market Overview
The automotive load floor market is driven by several factors, including:
- Car production on the rise: There is an increasing worldwide demand for cars which leads to an increase in production for car factories. Particularly car production is booming in many emerging markets where automotive component demand is on the rise. • Demand for automotive load floors: Since the increase in car production is evident, the demand of load floors which is an automotive component for cars are tremendously getting higher.
- Lightweighting: Higher emphasis is given to reducing vehicle weight to increase fuel efficiency and decrease exhaust emissions, thus boosting the usage of lightweight load floor composites.
- Consumer expectations rise on interior vehicle design: This has led to a tremendous amount of passenger compartment designs available on the market today, leading to challenges in building load floors that allow for comfort and overall livability.
- Electric vehicle proliferation: The continued increase of electrification of the automotive market provides potential upside for Load Floor as electric vehicles (EVs) – which often require design tailoring – present the opportunity to pre-empt the expected limit of internal space, given their modified orientation of certain components such as battery packs.
Market Segmentation
The automotive load floor market can be segmented based on:
- Vehicle type: Passenger cars, commercial vehicles, SUVs, and electric vehicles.
- Material: Steel, aluminum, composites, and plastics.
- Application: Front, center, and rear load floors.
- Region: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the rest of the world.
Key Trends
Several trends are shaping the automotive load floor market:
- Composite materials: Products such as fibreglass and carbon fibre are becoming increasingly popular, due to a lightweight nature and high strength-to-weight ratio; design freedom allows for manipulation of materials at microscopic scales.
- Acoustic and thermal insulation: Design of the load floor with respect to acoustic and thermal insulation require passenger comfort and to reduce noise levels.
- Customisation: Consumers are increasingly asking for vehicles that are ‘customisable’ to their tastes and lifestyles. For example, this may include customisable load floor options such as materials, finishes and features.
- Technological integration: Technologies like wireless charging, speakers and lighting systems are being built into the load floor.
Market Challenges and Opportunities
While the automotive load floor market presents significant opportunities, it also faces several challenges:
- Cost pressures: Manufacturers remain under cost pressures, which puts pressure on the profit-bearing elements of the load floor.
- Regulatory compliance: Fulfilling sometimes onerous safety and environmental requirements can add to development and production costs.
- Competition: The market is highly competitive, with numerous players vying for market share.
Nonetheless, the rising popularity of vehicles and improvements in material and technology, as well as the persistence of numerous comfort and functionality requirements for the vehicle interior will serve as market growth drivers.
Market Analysis and Forecast
- IDEAL Automotive GmbH
- UFP Technologies Inc.
- Huntsman International LLC
- Tricel Honeycomb Corporation
- Borgers SE & Co. KGaA
- ABC Technologies
- KRAIBURG TPE GMBH & CO. KG
- Sonoco Products Company
- Recticel
- Gemini Stearates
Conclusion
Their market report states that ‘By end or application, the automotive load floor market can be segmented into passenger vehicle flooring, light commercial vehicle flooring/accessories and heavy commercial vehicle floorings/accessories. The passenger vehicle flooring segment accounted for a higher market share in 2017, due to the increased production of vehicles globally. However, the load floor market in commercial vehicles is projected to grow at a faster rate between 2018 and 2026.’ Naturally, there are challenges to overcome, such as cost control, but overall the market looks positive. ‘The automotive load floor market appears highly opportunistic. Vehicle production and progressions in load floor materials and technologies will collectively drive the demand for load floor in vehicles. In addition, the growing design of the vehicle’s interior will height the requirements for load floor.’ And as vehicle types evolve further, from combustion engines into electric vehicles and from human-driven cars into autonomous cars, that demand is likely to carry on.
5 FAQs for the Automotive Load Floor Market Blog
- What is the impact of electric vehicles on the automotive load floor market?
- Answer: In part because they often include battery packs or other bulky items in the passenger area under the metal floor for luggage, EVs do require different pack ratios. This opens an opportunity to beef up the load floor, says Swenson, to ‘customise it for EV applications’.
- What are the key trends in load floor materials?
- Answer: Lightweight composite materials such as fibreglass and carbon fibre have become increasingly popular over time due to their low weight, high strength-to-weight ratio and design versatility. These materials, for example, significantly reduce the weight of vehicles and thus the intensity of vehicular fuel consumption.
- How are load floors contributing to vehicle interior comfort?
- Answer: Load floors maintain the shape of vehicles, greatly contributing to the comfort of their interiors. They also act as noise insulators, thermal dams and allow comfortable seating and other fixtures to be placed on them. The development of acoustic and thermal insulating materials continues to keep passengers comfortable in cars.
- What are the challenges faced by load floor manufacturers?
- Question: Load floors are used in factories and other industrial facilities where large, heavy objects are moved, such as truck trailers and elevators. Manufacturers of load floors need to work to reduce costs, comply with strict safety and environmental requirements, and stand out in a tough competitive market. • Answer: Key issues for manufacturers of load floors are cost and competitiveness, compliance, and visual appearance.
- What is the future outlook for the automotive load floor market?
- Paraphrased: The answer is: The global market for automotive load floor is forecast to increase, driven by factors such as rising vehicle output, new materials and technology, and also for more comfortable and functional interior of the vehicle. In the future, under the pressure of the transformation of the automotive industry towards electric vehicles and autonomous driving, demand for new load floor solutions will still grow.