Abstract
The average wiper blade wipes the windscreen over 1m times in a year, and
travels 800 miles in this time. Temperature extremes, heavy precipitation and
repetitive friction on the windscreen have a damaging effect on wiper blade
performance over time. A blade' s natural rubber provides the most flexible and
resilient edge for wiping across glass, but it eventually dries out and
deteriorates. The flat wiper blade continues to dominate the OE market, driven
by the need for product quality, comfort and aesthetics. While European wiper
makers refer to ' flat blades' , American manufacturers talk of ' beam blades' .
While the European vehiclemakers have long since adopted flat blades, the
North American market is catching-up albeit gradually. While demand for flat
blades in Europe has grown at a phenomenal rate over the past decade,
manufacturers see no reason why demand shouldn' t continue to grow.
Manufacturers say there are very few vehicles being built these days equipped
with conventional blades. Although flat blades are also appearing on the rear
window, the market is divided between conventional and flat blades depending
on the OEM.
Over the past decade, manufacturers have continued to develop so-called flat
wiper blades. The market drivers are product quality, comfort and aesthetics,
say manufacturers. An auto executive told us: "Generally speaking, the flat is
dominating the market now. There are no new cars coming through - other than
Japanese cars - which are not specifying beam blades. The Japanese cars are
still using some conventional blades and some what we call a hybrid which is
really a mixture of conventional and a beam blade. Also, the other significant
trend is that the length of the flat blade is increasing, particularly on the
driver side. The performance requirements are also becoming more and more
stringent with higher speeds. The longer blades relate to the fact that
windshields are becoming larger as well as legislation regarding wipe quality
on the driver' s side."
Another auto executive said: "We are looking at new vehicles which will come
out in two to three years time, most of which will feature flat blades. Among
the very low-end vehicles, there might be some conventional blades but for all
other cars in Europe we see these flat blades being sourced. So we can say
that flat blades have been a success story. The technology appeared eight to
ten years ago and now we have penetration of flat blades of almost 100% which
is a relatively short period."
In this fifth edition, just-auto reviews the key market drivers for wiper
blades, and updates the market analysis. Following our market overview in
Chapter 1, just-auto' s product forecasts in Chapter 2 predict the market
worldwide (and in North America, Western Europe, Japan and China) for OE wiper
blades and systems from 2005 through 2016.
Chapter two starts with reviewing latest market trends, looking firstly at the
OE market and then the replacement blade market. We review the major market
players and we provide lengthy interviews with Denso Europe BV' s Aftermarket
Sales division and Valeo' s Wiper Systems branch.
The market shares section provides 2008 sales volume % for OE wiper systems
for world, Europe, North America and the equivalent shares for aftermarket
sales volumes in Europe and North America. We also comment on the South
American and Japanese markets.
The market forecasts provide a comprehensive overview of the historic and
future OE volumes and values. This section begins with just-auto' s OE market
volumes for wiper blades in North America, Western Europe, Japan and China
from 2005 to 2016. Forecast years include best and worst case scenarios. It
then provides the same criteria but for market values. This section finally
provides equivalent OE market value data for complete wiper systems.
Chapter 3 Technical review This chapter sets out a review of recent
innovations in this arena, such as Trico' s Winter Pinch Tab blade, Bosch' s
universal adapter, clutch-motors and electronically-controlled twin motor
systems.
Chapter 4 Manufacturers This chapter provides profiles of the major
manufacturers, namely Bosch, Denso, Federal Mogul, Trico and Valeo.
This report is also available as an Intelligence Set. This is a value for
money bundle that consists of the report, plus the following supplier
profiles: Kautex Textron, Ti Automotive and Visteon.
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