The rise in sales of electric vehicles is hindering the growth of the automotive piston system market.

The electric vehicle market has been witnessing healthy growth in recent years, with about 2.26 million units of plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles sold during 2019, representing a 9% increase in sales as compared to 2018.

• The spike in sales has been the result of an increase in regulatory norms, by various organizations and governments, to control emission levels and to propagate zero-emission vehicles

As a result of the aforementioned reasons, automakers have been continually working and focusing to increase their expenditure on the R&D of electric vehicles, which, in turn, is aiding the OEMs to market electric vehicles in the future.

• This strategy had a strong impact from conventional IC engine vehicles to electric vehicles; thereby, slightly affecting the market for piston systems.
• The change has not decreased the sales of IC engine vehicles, but rather created a promising market for electric vehicles in the present, as well as for the forecast period.

Electric vehicles have reached on par (sometimes surpassed) with IC engine vehicle, in terms of performance, maintenance, and initial cost of purchase.

For instance, Tesla has manufactured electric cars, which claim to provide greater acceleration, power, top speed, etc., than an average IC engine/hybrid car.

In Asia-Pacific, China dominated the regional market, and accounted for over 60% share of the total market, followed by Japan and India. China is one of the major manufacturers of vehicles, globally. Passenger car and commercial vehicle sales in the country have increased until 2017, after which due to economic slowdown, the United States-China trade war dispute, the sales have slightly decreased.

However, in 2019, the country has witnessed a decline in vehicle sales, owing to trade tensions and shaky consumer confidence. Additionally, industry experts predict a further decline of 5% in vehicle sales in 2019. In January 2019, the government introduced many measures with an aim to increase sales of cars. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced that the restriction may be loosened for the second-hand automobile market, and appropriate subsidies are likely to be provided to boost rural sales of some vehicles as well as the purchase of new energy vehicles.

This has further continued in 2020 after the outbreak of coronavirus, due to which several automobile manufacturers were forced to suspend production facilities. However, by the end of 2020, both passenger car and commercial vehicle sales are expected to revive.

In Japan, domestic automobiles production has witnessed a steady rise since 2012, owning to weaker Japanese Yen and a stronger global market for the automotive industry. The Japanese automobile market grew marginally in 2018, owning to increased sales in mini vehicles, according to the Japan Automobile Dealers Association and Japan Mini Vehicle Association statistics. In 2019, all vehicles sales grew to reach 5.27 million units.