Car Care Solvents Market Expected to Reach $2.0 Billion by 2031—Allied Market Research

According to a new report published by Allied Market Research, titled, “Car Care Solvents Market," The car care solvents market size was valued at $1.1 billion in 2021, and is estimated to reach $2.0 billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 6.3% from 2022 to 2031.

Car care solvents are high-performing chemicals used to enhance the aesthetic appearance of cars and improve durability of the vehicles. They are widely utilized for car cleaning, refinishing, paint restoration, car polishing, and other applications.

The steadily growing application of a wide range of car care solvents such as acetone, toluene, mineral spirits, and others, for automotive cleaning, paint restoration, car detailing, degreasing, and other applications is the major key car care solvents market trend. Furthermore, factors such as rise in disposable income coupled with increase in number of authorized and non-authorized service centers in both developed and developing economies where car solvents are widely employed for maintenance and repair-related activities may contribute to the growth of the car care solvent market.

However, health-related disorders associated with the use of car care solvents are expected to hamper the car care solvents market growth during the forecast period.

On the contrary, the adoption of e-commerce platforms by several car care solvent manufacturers such as Rust-Oleum, CRC Industries, Sunnyside Corporation, and others, may increase the sales of car care solvents; thus, creating lucrative opportunities for the market.

The car care solvent market is segmented on the basis of type, application, end use, and region. By type, the market is segregated into acetone, mineral spirits, toluene, isopropyl alcohol, propylene glycol, and others. The acetone segment dominated the global market in terms of revenue in 2021, with 23.46% of the total share. This is attributed to the fact that acetone possesses excellent significant properties such as quick evaporation, cleaning effectiveness, and thinning that make it best-suited for use as a car care solvent for paint restoration, cleaning, stain removal, degreasing, and other applications.

By application, the market is divided into interior, and exterior. The interior segment dominated the global market in terms of revenue in 2021, with 53.73% of the total share. This is attributed to increase in disposable income coupled with rise in customer preference toward having luxury car interior have surged the utilization of various car care solvents such as acetone, mineral spirits, and others. Moreover, increase in awareness for hygiene-related activities have surged the need for isopropyl alcohol used for killing bacteria and viruses in car interiors. These factors altogether may augment the growth of the car care solvents market for car interior applications.

By end use, the market is divided into service centers and garages, and personal. The service centers and garages segment dominated the global market in terms of revenue in 2021, with 79.67% of the total share. This is attributed to increasing investment of customers on repair & maintenance activities, which in turn has surged the demand for car care solvents used for degreasing, paint restoration, and other purposes in the service centers and garages.

Region-wise, the car care solvents market analysis is carried out across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. The Asia-Pacific car care solvent market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period, and accounted for a major car care solvent market share in 2021, owing to increase in involvement of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the aftermarket industry combined with the consolidation of car care solvent distributors promotes the growth of the market in the region. Moreover, factors such as growth in automotive industry and retail sectors, owing to significant rise in per capita income and rapid urbanization drives the market growth.

Key players holding in the global car care solvents market share include, BASF SE, Car Clean Products NZ Ltd., CRC Industries, DOW INC., Eastman Chemical Company, Exxon Mobil Corporation, INEOS, Kleanstrip, Momar Inc., Recochem Corporation, RelaDyne LLC, Rust-Oleum, Solventis, Sunnyside Corporation, and Solvents & Petroleum Service, Inc.

COVID-19 analysis

The novel coronavirus is an incomparable global pandemic that has spread to over 180 countries and caused huge losses of lives and the economy around the globe. The COVID-19 crisis creates uncertainty in every market, including the automotive sector. According to a report published by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), sale of passenger cars declined by 51% in March 2020. Also, several car care solvent manufacturing companies either shutdown or shrank their operations due to the risk of infections among the workforce. This temporarily hampered the demand-supply chain of car care solvents industry amid the COVID-19 period. Furthermore, to control the surge of novel coronavirus cases, there was a drastic shift of investments from other sectors toward healthcare. In addition, the falling income of customers has decreased the demand for automotive maintenance & repair products. Furthermore, the car care solvent manufacturing industry has faced various problems related to transportation, the non-availability of a skilled workforce, and reduced export/import orders amid the COVID-19 period. This has led the car care solvent market to witness a downfall in demand. Moreover, more than 100 countries locked their international borders for transportation and non-essential trade activities, which hampered the supply-demand chain of the car care solvent market during the COVID-19 scenario.

In 2020, car care solvent prices were high in Asia-Pacific region. The price rise was due to continued regional demand trends and tight product availability. Firm downstream demand for car care solvent and stronger upstream costs are expected to sustain the price gain.

However, increasing awareness for car cleaning and maintenance-related activities among car owners may surge the popularity of car care solvents post COVID-19 scenario. Moreover, the overall service activities of market players have registered a steady and favorable recovery in the subsequent months with increase in the sales of passenger cars. For instance, according to an article published by Business Today in March 2021, Maruti Suzuki witnessed a growth of 8.3% with 144,761 units being sold out while Hyundai witnessed a 29% jump with 51,600 units being sold out in February 2021. This is predicted to enhance the performance of the car care solvent market post COVID-19 period.

Key findings of the study

• By type, the acetone segment is anticipated to register the highest CAGR of 6.6% during the forecast period.
• By application, the interior segment is estimated to display the highest growth rate, in terms of revenue, registering a CAGR of 6.1% from 2022 to 2031.
• By end use, the service centers and garages segment is estimated to display the highest growth rate, in terms of revenue, registering a CAGR of 6.3% from 2022 to 2031.
• By region, Asia-Pacific garnered the highest share of 46.1% in 2021, in terms of revenue, growing at a CAGR of 6.8%.