Automotive Trends Now and in the Future

The stratospheric success of SUVs and emerging trends such as connected, autonomous, shared and electric vehicles are redefining the automotive industry as we know it. SUV sales increased by 12% between 2016 and 2017 and remain the fastest growing segment globally as automakers drop sedan and MPV models in favour of crossovers. Despite the risks of a Trump-initiated trade war and highly saturated auto lending markets, Euromonitor predicts that SUVs will continue growing at an average rate of 6.8% between 2017 and 2022.

From a top-line sales perspective, many emerging markets such as India maintained strong growth of approximately 10% between 2016 and 2017. China was an outlier and grew by a comparably anaemic 2.5% over the same period and its market nears a saturation point.

Over the next 15 years, Euromonitor predicts that emerging technologies such as connected and autonomous vehicles will have an outsized influence on the automotive industry as software-based features become key differentiators.