Global CFD Market in Automotive Industry 2017-2021

Overview of the global CFD market in the automotive industry

Technavio’s market research analyst predicts the global CFD market in the automotive industry to grow at a CAGR of almost 10% by 2021. At present, the automotive manufacturers are undergoing high pressure to minimize the product development cycle. CFD is primarily used in the designing stage of the product development cycle, specifically in the simulation and optimization processes. The designing stage is crucial in the product development lifecycle as it reduces the time and cost of production of automotive products and components. Such advanced characteristics have promptly increased the dependence of several industries on the software to reduce product development cycle time. The effective use of PLM software such as CAD, CFD, and CAM helps minimize product recalls by refining the product design, which will subsequently increase the application of CFD software in the automotive industry.

The automotive industry is witnessing the growing shift towards the adoption of electric vehicles. Several vehicle manufacturers are increasing their investments in the research activities to manufacture fuel-efficient vehicles. They are complying with the set standards and are focusing towards manufacturing cost-effective vehicles. Companies such as General Motors and Ford have increased the number of electric and hybrid vehicles in their product portfolios. With the massive rise in electric vehicles in the automotive industry, the demand for CFD will increase during the forecast period because it is widely used in battery designing, which is one of the major areas of R&D.

Competitive landscape and key vendors

The market comprises major as well as smaller players, which makes it extremely fragmented. The leading vendors in the market such as CD-adapco and Mentor Graphics develop CFD for almost all end-users in the market. They also have specific solutions, such as Forte developed by ANSYS, which are primarily used for designing combustion engines. Most companies in the market are exclusively focusing on product innovations and are incorporating new code-solving methods and analysis. The integration of 3-D components in electronics assemblies, improved simulation between contact parts in structural analysis, an amalgamation of composites to prototypes, and enhanced fluid dynamic solutions are some of the key focus areas for many major CFD vendors in the market.

Leading vendors in the market are -

• ANSYS
• Dassault Systèmes
• Mentor Graphics
• Siemens PLM Software

Other prominent vendors in the CFD market in the automotive industry include Altair, Applied Math Modeling, Ceetron, Convergent Science, ESI Group, Exa, FloSolve, Numeca, OpenFOAM Foundations, Simerics, and Symscape.

Geographical segmentation and analysis of the CFD market in the automotive industry

• Americas
• APAC
• EMEA

EMEA was the largest player in the global CFD market in the automotive industry in 2016, due to several research activities and the presence of leading automobile manufacturers such as Volkswagen, Rolls Royce, and BMW. The automotive industries in Germany and France are the major end-users of CFD in EMEA. To comply with the stringent emission standards, manufacturers are effectively designing efficient engines, which has increased the usage of CFD in automobile manufacturing.

Growth drivers, challenges, and upcoming trends: Growing requirement for integrated software

Upcoming trends such as the growing demand for integrated software is gaining popularity in the market where some large PLM and CFD vendors are offering integrated CFD software with other PLM tools. Customers prefer such software because it enhances the efficiency of product development cycles. Moreover, the integration of CFD and CAD solutions allows engineers to work on a single geometry where modifications made in one application is directly updated in the other. Such advanced procedures not only eliminate the data transfer gap between CFD and CAD applications but also augment the efficiency of the product development cycle.

This report provides a number of factors contributing to the adoption, limitations, and opportunities of the CFD market in the automotive industry. It also offers an analysis of each factor and an estimation of the extent to which the factors are likely to impact the overall market growth.

 Key questions answered in the report include

• What will the market size and the growth rate be of the global CFD market in the automotive industry in 2021?
• What are the key factors driving the global CFD market in the automotive industry?
• What are the key market trends impacting the growth of the global CFD market in the automotive industry?
• What are the challenges to market growth?
• Who are the key vendors in the global CFD market in the automotive industry?
• What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the vendors in the global CFD market in the automotive industry?
• Trending factors influencing the market shares of the global CFD market in the automotive industry in Americas, APAC, and EMEA.
• What are the key outcomes of the five forces analysis of the global CFD market in the automotive industry?