World demand for diesel engines is projected to grow 6.7 percent per year through 2015 to $197.5 billion.  Product sales will be driven by an increase in the production of motor vehicles, particularly medium and heavy trucks and buses.  Value gains will also be fueled by the growing use of more technologically advanced, higher value products because of increasingly restrictive emission regulations in a number of regions. These and other trends, including market share and product segmentations, are presented in World Diesel Engines, a new study from The Freedonia Group, Inc., a Cleveland-based industry market research firm.  

The Asia/Pacific region was the world’s largest market for diesel engines in 2010 by a wide margin.  China and India will be the primary drivers for growth in the region, as expanding output of motor vehicles and off-highway equipment combine with higher levels of fixed investment to stimulate significant increases in diesel engine demand.  The medium and heavy vehicle diesel engine segment will experience the greatest gains in this regional market in dollar terms, accounting for 53 percent of total sales for the Asia/Pacific region in 2015.

Demand for diesel engines in the Africa/Mideast region is expected to expand 7.7 percent per year through 2015, spurred by rising output of medium and heavy vehicles and off-highway equipment, in addition to rising fixed investment.  Stationary diesel engines will continue to account for a relatively high proportion of the overall market due to the unreliability of electricity in the region, prompting the use of these products as backup generators.  The diesel engine markets in Eastern Europe and in Central and South America will also grow at healthy rates from 2010 to 2015.  However, each of these regions will still account for less than ten percent of global sales in 2015.

Demand for diesel engines in North America and Western Europe will grow with renewed strength following a period of weakness.  Continued high levels of off-highway equipment production will maintain proportionally large demand for off-highway diesel engines in North America.  In Western Europe, lower diesel fuel prices and differing cultural factors will maintain the popularity of diesel engines used in light vehicles.  Market gains in Japan will advance only 2.3 percent per annum through 2015, dampened by slow growth in motor vehicle output, although this will represent an improvement over sales declines recorded between 2005 and 2010.

The Freedonia Group is a leading international business research company, founded in 1985, that publishes more than 100 industry research studies annually. This industry analysis provides an unbiased outlook and a reliable assessment of an industry and includes product segmentation and demand forecasts, industry trends, demand history, threats and opportunities, competitive strategies, market share determinations and company profiles.