Global Market Review of Door Modules

Car doors are becoming slimmer to provide more cabin space. This trend has caused a substantial increase in demand for smaller and lighter power window motors. In fact, space limitations inside the door make narrow drive units imperative. As new cars are increasingly fitted with remote control, automatic operation and other value-added power window functions, more cars require anti-pinch protection systems. This means that there is a growing trend for smart motors with built-in circuit controls.

In this, the fifth edition of this report, just-auto reviews the key market drivers for door modules, and updates the market analysis.

Following our market overview in Chapter 1, just-auto's product fitment forecasts in Chapter 2 predict the market for door module cassettes fitted to passenger cars assembled in North America, Western Europe and Japan from 2005 through to 2016. Data includes percentage fitment rates by region, market volumes and values by region with actual/likely-, best- and worst-case scenarios - all trended through the historic and forecasted years mentioned.

Also included in chapter 2 are 2008 percentage market shares for Europe, North America and the world. And summary profiles of the major suppliers and their recent activities are provided.

Chapter 3 reviews the technical advances in door systems, defining the parts that make up the system as well as what we can expect to see in tomorrow's cars.

Extracts:

Continental is using BASF's Ultradur S4090 G4 LS High Speed material for a door control device in the Audi A4 and A5. The move marks the first serial automotive electronics application for the 20% glass reinforced PBT/ASA (polybutylene terephthalate acrlonitrile-styrene-acrylate) copolymer blend. The door control device is located inside the doors and is connected to the central electronic unit through the vehicle's electrical system. The device is responsible for opening and closing doors and windows and it controls safety functions such as the squeeze protection and other electronic modules located inside the doors.

Faurecia has developed a pre-crash vehicle safety system, as part of its APROSYS (Advanced PROtection SYStems) project. The system is able to predict an on-coming collision and activate a side-impact protection system that can reduce the risk of injury. The pre-crash sensor system is integrated into the vehicle body. This is able to predict a collision a split-second before impact and decide whether or not to activate the safety system.

Chapter 4 sets out profiles of the major manufacturers, namely ArvinMeritor, Brose, Dura, Faurecia, Grupo Antolin, Kuester, Magna Closures and Wagon.