Following the global economic crisis of 2009, the automotive sector has recovered dramatically, surpassing the levels of demand witnessed before the crisis. The market is now worth an estimated '57bn annually, rejuvenated by a surge in demand for vehicles in developing markets, in particular China, as well growth in demand such as in the North American markets.
The continued increase in demand in developing countries has resulted in structural changes in the market and created significant opportunities for logistics providers. For example, the explosive growth of vehicle sales in China has also led to a rapid increase in production in the country by global manufacturers. This represents a significant opportunity for global logistics providers operating in the region as manufacturers demand Western standards of logistics service levels. It is anticipated that China's automotive logistics sector will grow by 10% per annum until 2014.
Manufacturing, and therefore the need for logistics services, has also increased in Mexico as automotive sales in North America have recovered robustly. Asian manufacturers, Honda, Nissan and Toyota have all increased production in Mexico to support sales in the US, in addition to European manufacturer Volkswagen Group, illustrating that the ability of logistics providers to support vehicle manufacturers in emerging markets will be a key issue in the near future.
Thomas Cullen, Senior Analyst at Ti and author of Global Automotive Logistics 2013, said: 'The automotive world looks like it is evolving into one dominated by a few large global Vehicle Manufacturers with operations in markets such as China, Brazil, Russia, India and elsewhere integrated into supply chains heavily rooted in North America, Western Europe and Japan. Providing the logistics systems to support this structure will be the main challenge and opportunity for automotive logistics service providers from now on.'
