ADAS Market in China to See 36% CAGR Revenue Growth through 2020

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Growth in the Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) market remained largely confined to North America, Western Europe, and Japan in 2015. This was driven by an increase in affordable packages on high-volume models and ratings agencies boosting consumer awareness. The focus of growth has shifted and is now concentrated in developing regions, with the world’s largest auto market, China, ramping up to become the center of attention for domestic and foreign automotive manufacturers. ABI Research, the leader in transformative technology innovation market intelligence, forecasts China’s ADAS market growth to gain speed between 2017 and 2020, increasing by roughly 40% per year.

“Once connected infotainment saturates China’s automotive market, domestic OEMs will turn toward ADAS solutions as the next market driver,” says James Hodgson, Research Analyst at ABI Research. “In many ways, the proliferation of ADAS in China will be a delayed reflection of the growth observed in other regions. Before the market can reach its full potential in China, however, regional automotive vendors need to educate consumers on the system benefits, adjust the price level to make it more accessible, and build its feature set to specifically target the concerns Chinese consumers have in regards to their safety.”

A number of leading automotive manufacturers are working hard to better align ADAS functionality with the Chinese consumer market. BMW in partnership with BAIDU, along with regional car manufacturers such as BAIC, are launching autonomous vehicle trials in China. These companies are then looking to apply what they learn from those trials to mainstream ADAS packages, identifying critical circumstances that Chinese drivers face on the roads and tweaking ADAS accordingly.

“Additionally, Nissan very recently started working with China’s Automotive Technology and Research Center to figure out how to best adapt Nissan’s lane keeping and collision avoidance technologies to suit the region’s driving habits,” continues Hodgson. “The company understands that it can’t just copy what it did for Western and Japanese markets; it has to be intuitive and adapt this technology to specifically cater to Chinese consumers.”

It is important to note that ADAS adoption in China continues to grow at a relatively slower pace than other regions due to the system’s unaffordability. As sensor costs continue to fall, ADAS will become far more accessible to China’s burgeoning middle class. As liability is of utmost importance to these consumers, there is a flourishing market for digital video recorders or dash cams, where ADAS features such as forward collision warning (FCW), vulnerable user detection (VUD), or lane departure warning (LDW) can be included as a key product differentiator.

“Nonetheless, the biggest disadvantage of aftermarket ADAS is the limited degree of integration within the vehicle,” concludes Hodgson. “The safety advantage of informative ADAS, however, is not to be overlooked, nor is the value of the aftermarket to educate consumers on the benefits of ADAS.”

About ABI Research

For more than 25 years, ABI Research has stood at the forefront of technology market intelligence, partnering with innovative business leaders to implement informed, transformative technology decisions. The company employs a global team of senior analysts to provide comprehensive research and consulting services through deep quantitative forecasts, qualitative analyses and teardown services. An industry pioneer, ABI Research is proactive in its approach, frequently uncovering ground-breaking business cycles ahead of the curve and publishing research 18 to 36 months in advance of other organizations. In all, the company covers more than 60 services, spanning 11 technology sectors.