Automotive Connector Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2021 - 2026)

The safety and security segment is expected to witness the fastest growth rate, during the forecast period.

Improving safety and security of vehicles is a growing concern among automakers and governments; as a result, automakers have started installing dedicated electronic control units (ECUs) at every critical level of vehicle systems, including powertrain, steering, and braking systems. For instance, the usage of ECUs, such as electric power steering ECU unit and anti-lock braking system (ABS) ECU unit have been significantly increased to approximately 4-5% annually, during the past three years (2015-2018).

Other safety and security features, such as airbags and central-locking system, have been predominantly installed in more than 60% of all new vehicle sales in 2019.

In addition to this, ADAS features, such as adaptive cruise control, parking assist, lane departure warning and assist system, blind spot detection, night vision system, adaptive front lighting system etc., have been gradually penetrating in vehicles globally, majorly in the European (EU) and North American region, and countries, like China and Japan.

Europe ranks top in implementing safety features in vehicles, while the Americas and Asia-Pacific follow the footprints of Europe. Euro NCAP released few protocols on safety features, like autonomous emergency braking, driver monitoring, and child occupant protection, in 2018, and is anticipating to mandate these features in EU vehicles by 2020-2022. With growing regulations toward vehicle safety standards across every region, the adoption of safety and security systems in automobiles are expected to increase, which, in turn, will result in the demand for and usage of connectors during the forecast period.

The increasing demand for electric and semi-autonomous vehicles in Europe is simultaneously impacting the usage for automotive connectors. For instance, the share of electric vehicles in the regional market has increased by approximately 30% over the past two years, and is expected to grow over the next five years, owing to the growing environmental concerns. Thus, the region is expected to witness high demand for automotive connectors during the forecast period.