Adhesive Tapes: The Ultimate Solution to reduce the Vehicle weight?

In today’s world, the automotive industry growing at an enormous pace with new technologies are getting introduced each and every day. Worldwide car sales grew to an estimated 66.1 million automobiles in 2022, down from around 66.7 million units in 2021. For this downtrend, there were some major factors that happened in the past two years such as Covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war which leads to a shortage of semiconductors. Even though the shortage of semiconductors is a big issue for the automotive industry, the Electric Vehicle (EV) sector is going boom in the coming years as governments across the globe are focusing on reducing carbon emissions and the EV sector can make a big impact on the rapidly increasing pollution across the globe. 

Automotive manufacturers across the globe are focusing on producing lightweight EVs and fuel-efficient vehicles and one of the major factors that can help them in reducing the overall vehicle weight is Adhesive tapes.

 Adhesive tapes are one of the most prominently used products in the automotive industry. these tapes are used for various purposes in automotive such as Interior Attachment, Exterior Attachment, Wire Harnessing, Electronics, Powertrain, Chassis & Wheels, and Acoustic Insulation.

Excellent quality material is an essential part of adhesives to manufacture good and durable tapes. The most widely used materials for automotive adhesive tapes are Polypropylene, Polyvinyl Chloride, Polyester, Paper, and others. 

Adhesive tapes are extensively used in interiors in airbag wrapping, and plastic profile interiors, for the attachment of foam and fabric on the instrumental panel. Adhesive tapes are used as an alternative for screws, fasteners, and welding. Manufacturers are using adhesive tapes instead of fasteners and screws to ease up the manufacturing process

What are the benefits of using adhesive tapes?

In recent years, adhesive tapes have gained a lot of traction in the automotive industry across the globe as global manufacturers are shifting their focus from using those traditional mechanical fasteners like screws, clips, bolts, and others to using adhesive tapes. This shift comes from several Marky benefits of adhesive tapes in the automotive industry.  

Adhesive tapes are necessary for a substrate combination because screws and welds cannot create ideal bonds 

1. Reduce Weight: This is one of the key benefits of using adhesive tapes as a replacement for traditional fasteners. Adhesive tapers can be used instead of screws, bolts, and clips which are used for the interior and exterior work of a car which ultimately helps in reducing the automobile’s weight.

2. Reduce Noise: Adhesive tapes are used to reduce the possible noise which can be created by bolts and screws. In most cars, bolts and screws usually get lost because of the continuous vibration, especially screws used in the body in the white process for the alignment of the whole car. Sometimes, bolts present in the interior parts of a car such as engine parts or at the frontal side of the car lose their grip and create noise to reduce the overall noise, adhesive tapes are widely used in the automotive industry.

3. Minimize Maintenance: Continue maintenance of a car is one of the most irritative works for a car owner. Small maintenance can cost a lot of money if the car owner has to do extra maintenance for the car. Adhesive tapes are the best solutions to minimize maintenance as these are used as an alternative for nuts & bolts which are the most common reason for extra maintenance. These tapes not only remove the possibility of extra maintenance but also reduce the overall maintenance of a car.

4. Streamline assembly: Adhesive tapes are widely used for car assembly especially in the body in white process. This automotive manufacturing stage is where a metal frame of a vehicle is integrated into the structure before painting. There are several types of adhesives used in different assembly processes such as Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) adhesives which are used for special applications for electronic components of vehicles. 

Electric Vehicles can open up new pathways for the use of adhesive tapes as these tapes are used to reduce the overall vehicle weight and increase fuel efficiency. If an electric vehicle is lightweight, it can give a longer run (Km/Mile) per charge which is a benefit for manufacturers as well as car owners. 

As per Statista, the worldwide revenue in the Electric Vehicles market is projected to reach US$457.60bn in 2023. The number of EV sales is going to reach 8.60 million in 2023 which is higher than the 6.51-million-unit sales in 2021. The EV market is expected to grow at a rate of around 21.6% in the coming years and this can be a potential opportunity for the automotive adhesive market to grow at a rapid pace with a healthy CAGR rate in the coming years.

Market Insights

The global automotive adhesive tapes market size was valued at USD 3 Billion in 2021 and is expected to surpass USD 5.3 Billion by 2030, expanding at a CAGR of 6.2% during the forecast period, 2022–2030. The growth of the market is attributed to the wide use of adhesive tapes by automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in manufacturing several vehicle parts and the rising demand for lightweight vehicles.  

The demand for high-performance adhesive tapes for better safety and the rapid production of EVs and Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVS) and the wide adoption of EVs can create some lucrative opportunities for the global market in the coming years. 

Key players in competing in the global market are 3M Company; Sika Automotive AG; Nitto Denko Corporation; ABI Tape Products; L&L Products, Inc.; Saint-Gobain; PPG Industries; Lida Industry Co, Ltd.; tesa SE; ThreeBond Holdings Co., Ltd.; Berry Plastics; Adchem Corp.; Lintec Corporation; and Avery Dennison Corporation.