Over the past few years of the automotive arena Cars and Bikes have turned from a luxurious commodity to a basic necessity. Whether it is for urban commuting or a casual drive or a trip around the serene valleys with friends or near & dear ones. At times the casual drive also eases out tensed nerves and offers a relaxed, flexible feel, and entices the best travel enthusiasts in us.
With the current crisis hovering over the ever surging Fuel prices along with an equal surge in global fuel demand created over the past few years, the need for sustainable, greener, eco-friendly, and emission-friendly automobiles have become quite the need of the hour.
Global Auto Industries Transition & Trends in the last 4 Years: An Overview
There is absolutely no doubt that the auto industry had a great glorious past, and that the global automakers would like to progress in the same line. The recent developments in automotive technology would have even astonished the once-dominant automotive pioneers like Henry Ford, Ferdinand Porsche, and Kiichiro Toyoda.
However, in today\’s context, the pioneers of the auto sector have definitely understood the vitality of integrating the latest technologies with practical interiors, aggressive unique body lining, stylish exteriors, and utility options. The mandate for connected car technology that is compatible with all gadgets, software, and combined with, ambient lighting system, safety features, healthcare services, hill assist, and more are on the rise among the masses.
The recent panic raised in the form of newer Covid-19 variants, and the dearth of the smart chipsets whether it would be the Taiwanese, Chinese, or the US manufactured, has definitely formed the crux of the modern automobile sector is not only threatening to put the whole industry and off course to bring it to a screeching halt
The dwindling global sales figures and the long waiting periods have only added salt to the wound that began as a small scratch in 2018. As per the Statista report, the global automotive sector sales tanked down 15 percent in 2020.
As per the IHS Markit report, the global Chip shortage is still worrisome and is going to continue till the second half of 2022 and will surely have its impact on the automobile sector.
The transition from Fuel based Vehicles to Electric and Hybrid Variants
With lackluster ownership benefits and dwindling demand for the once-dominant fuel-based auto sector, along with the need of the hour, curbing out the pollution rate, the Automakers globally are now bound to change their strategy for coming out with premium, luxurious, eco-friendly, superior range efficient Electric Vehicles (EV’s) and Hybrid Variants.
During the beginning of 2018-2019, the EVs were just the prototype and yet were the much-hyped latest entrants to boost up the automotive space.
However, the EVs faced the biggest hurdle in the form of setting up suitable infrastructure with accessibility and reliability provided by the ICE-powered vehicles and their ecosystem.
A Spike in Digitalized Automobile Sales
Digitalized sales platforms for automobiles will aid clients to shop at their convenience, explore and select the features they want on a vehicle and get the financing they require.
Additionally, dealerships now offer online sales, let an online buyer utilize the virtual walk-around technology, facilitate at-home test drives and do home delivery of vehicles.
Superior Connected Vehicles
Connected Vehicles are linked to the Internet of Things (IoT) utilizing broadband connectivity. These vehicles offer a safe, comfortable, convenient multimedia experience, navigation assist, etc by using on-demand features that allow you to do anything you want on the web while in your vehicle.
Connected Vehicles with digitalized instrument console offers numerous services comprising of maintenance alerts, controlling vehicle ambient lighting system, customizable entertainment info, and other added features.
It also offers digital data and remote diagnostics, vehicle health reports, data-only telematics, access 4G LTE Wi-Fi Hotspots, get turn-by-turn directions, warn of car health issues and directly intervene to prevent breakdowns.
Autonomous Self-Driving Vehicles
Autonomous self-driven vehicles have stirred quite a storm in the auto sector and will soon be replacing conventional manually-driven vehicles. This new innovation would promote road safety, curb downtime, expand the scope of last-mile delivery scope, reduction in driver fatigue, and driver negligence-related accidents.
Autonomous self-driving vehicles also offer enhancement of fuel efficiency and curb CO2 emissions to a great extent. It’s specifically prevalent and beneficial for long-voyage trips or trucking firms that include transport and delivery of freight and other services.
The emergence of Light Weight Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles FCEV’s
In 2022, we will witness the global emergence of fuel cell electric vehicles that will revolutionize the way we commute, refuel or recharge our vehicles and give us
a new approach towards our pollution norms.
FCEVs run on Hydrogen and emit just water, making them completely environmentally friendly. With the swifter chargeable fuel cell electric vehicles, ease of convenient charging, a superior range that is said to be 5 times more than the normal electric vehicles. Additionally, these vehicles will also just be emitting water from their tailpipes.
FCEV’s are currently becoming a huge craze and a growing number of car, truck, and SUV manufacturers are investing in fuel cell electric vehicle development.
For an illustration – Toyota had unveiled its FCEV Toyota Mirai and who had also entered into the coveted Guinness Book of World Records
As per the Research and Market report: “Global Automotive FCEV Market: Analysis By Vehicle Type (PVs, LCVs, Bus, Trucks), Distance Range (Short, Long), By Region, By Country (2021 Edition): Market Insights, Covid-19 Impact, Competition and Forecast (2021-2026) from March 2021, the global FCEV
the market is gaining traction amidst stringent regulatory standards regarding environment conservation, supportive government policies on energy conservation, as well as growing consumer awareness about product quality.
As per the Research and Market report preview, the global FCEV auto market is poised to grow at $415.45 Million in the year 2020 and is poised to double its worth in the next five to ten years.
The only drawback FCEVs suffer is that the vehicles can only be utilized for commuting short ranges that range mainly from 100 km to a maximum of 300 Km’s.
A surge in Pre-Owned Vehicles
The boom in the Used car and two-wheelers is another trend that will empower the automotive arena. As per the automotive industry experts, the anticipation of the expansion is slated to be around 9% in the overall used car sales between 2019 to 2025 as these vehicles have a lot of inbuilt technology and are not as
expensive as the new vehicles.
Chip Shortage Recovery and auto industry revival
The latest advanced AI technology, bot-enabled Siri, Cloud, IoT powered Android, as well as an iOS-enabled entertainment system, is the latest norms in the auto industry.
However, due to the deadly Covid-19 Pandemic, the shortage in the Chip industry was inevitable and had impacted the Car majors badly. It had even put an abrupt halt to manufacturing assembly lines from March-July 2021.
Automakers across the globe felt some respite after August 2021, when all leading chip manufacturers, comprising of the ones from Taiwan, the US, and China commenced their full operations on a global level.
However, this trend of chipset dearth is still going to continue in 2022 with more Covid-19 Waves predicted, and hence the recovery will be slower, yet steady.
As per the IHS Markit, the global auto industry will witness a 5% surge in 2022 to 86.9 million and within 2023, it will witness another robust 4% surge to end at 89.7Million.
Overall, the vision for the automotive industry within the next few years looks brighter albeit the presence of certain hurdles in the form of fresher Covid-19 Waves, recession, and some other factors.
Article by Medhaj Nair
