REPORT SCOPE
INTRODUCTION
The hybrid electric vehicle market has become one of the most promising new markets for OEMs. An increasing number of functions that were traditionally performed by mechanical or electrical systems are now handled by electronics. The motor car as we know it is experiencing a technological revolution. Global warming, climate change and air quality issues have combined with a dramatic increase in oil prices to deliver an imperative for motor vehicle manufacturers to present radically more fuel-efficient vehicles to the market place.
Hybrid engines are being established as an addition to conventional engines. Current worldwide sales figures illustrate this trend and suggest that the hybrid market will grow strongly in coming years. However, forecasts of actual market volumes vary significantly, predicting sales of one million hybrid vehicles by 2010. The component market in hybrid electric vehicles is an attractive and growing multibillion dollar market characterized by reasonable production volumes of components that must be extremely reliable and low in cost. Hybrid vehicles will continue to move into the fast lane, especially in the US and Japan, and new demand from the U.S. market is being taken very seriously by key players in the field.
This comprehensive and timely report will help automakers, tier-one suppliers, battery manufacturers, electric motor manufacturers and established suppliers adopt suitable strategies to retain their market positions as well as apply course corrections to take advantage of the excellent opportunities to increase revenues and profitability by capitalizing on the growing hybrid market.
SCOPE OF STUDY
This report addresses key aspects of HEVs:
- Types of hybrid systems and main components
- Current state of hybrid vehicle technology
- Technical issues, costs, choices in hybrid vehicle design
- Market growth, and regulatory issues
- Product development and marketing among OEMs and suppliers
- Key suppliers, and
- Competing technologies to hybrid technologies.
METHODOLOGY
The research methodology was qualitative in nature and based on a triangulative approach to support validity. Initially, a comprehensive and exhaustive search of the literature on hybrid electric vehicles was conducted. These secondary sources included hybrid electric vehicle journals and related books, trade and marketing literature, other product and promotional literature, annual reports, automotive analyst reports and other publications. A patent search and analysis also was performed.
A second phase involved semistructured fact finding e-mail correspondence with marketing executives, product sales engineers, international sales managers, applications engineers, and other personnel associated with hybrid electric vehicle OEM companies themselves. Additional sources included magazines published in the U.S., Germany, Singapore, the U.K., academics, technology suppliers, technical experts, trade association officials, government officials and consulting companies. These were a rich source of data.
INFORMATION SOURCES
Initially, BCC conducted a comprehensive and exhaustive search of the literature on hybrid electric vehicles. These sources included the latest press releases on company Web sites that covered applications, corporate news, marketing, and products. Additionally, there were brochures, product literature, hybrid electric vehicle and electronics magazines, technical journals, technical books, marketing literature, other promotional literature, annual reports, security analyst reports and related hybrid electric vehicle publications.
There was very little data in the available literature that analyzed component suppliers to hybrid electric vehicles as a whole, and that data is expected to change quickly over the next five years. The challenge was to identify and evaluate the component market for hybrid electric vehicles currently in the global market. An extensive patent analysis was conducted to gauge technological innovations and determine research activity as it applied to new product development.
The second phase also involved formal and informal telephone interviews and e-mail correspondence with personnel in the components sector. Suppliers, design engineers, consulting companies, other technical experts, government officials and trade association officials also were interviewed, as well as personnel at the OEM companies themselves
