Loading...
Industry Evolution in today's environment has reached an important crossroad; Traditional metallurgy is being affected and challenged by advanced polymer chemistry. The automotive composite leaf spring is leading the way in this challenge and disruption of the traditional leaf spring. Leaf Spring Technology is considered an old technology to support heavier vehicles such as trucks, but due to the possible uses of Composite materials, the current Leaf Spring market is revitalised. Leaf Springs are not merely mechanical components but are also structural components of vehicles and can take on multiple functions, including roll-stabilisation and vibration isolation, all in a single, lightweight, modular unit. In today's world of the automotive industry, the pursuit of decarbonization is the number one driver for new innovative products. For combustion engine vehicles, for every 100 kg reduction of mass, an average reduction in CO2 emissions of 8.5g/km will be produced.
For electric vehicles (EVs), the stakes become even higher, as the mass of the vehicle directly translates to battery-sizing and range. 6 Composite Leaf Springs can assist in reducing these two issues by replacing heavy, multi-leaf steel stacks with a single Composite element, which not only provides the ride quality and handling associated with the decreased unsprung mass of the Composite configuration but also eliminates the noise and friction typically found in steel leaf springs.
Automotive Composite Leaf Spring Market Key Highlights
• Weight Reduction Superiority: Composite leaf springs, typically manufactured from glass-fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP), offer a weight saving of up to 75% compared to multi-leaf steel counterparts. This is a critical factor for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) striving to extend the range of Electric Vehicles (EVs) and improve the payload capacity of commercial trucks.
• Geopolitically Driven Supply Chains: The implementation of a 25% ad valorem tariff on imported automotive parts in the United States, effective May 3, 2025, is forcing a regionalisation of composite manufacturing. Companies like Hendrickson and Rassini are increasingly focusing on USMCA-compliant production to mitigate these costs.
• Technical Performance Gains: Beyond weight, composites provide superior damping characteristics and are entirely resistant to corrosion, which significantly reduces the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for fleet operators in harsh environments.
• Strategic Consolidation: The market is witnessing significant M&A activity, such as Hendrickson’s strategic integration of LiteFlex technology and SGL Carbon’s 2025 restructuring to focus on high-margin carbon fibre applications.
• Optimising the payload and extending the range of Electric Vehicles: The most important factor behind the Automotive Composite Leaf Spring Market's transition towards electrification is that Electric Vehicles (EVs) have to carry the weight of their batteries. In order to offset this 'weight penalty', manufacturers are looking for every possible weight-saving opportunity in both their suspension systems and chassis. By substituting steel leaf springs that weigh 15 kilograms for composite leaf springs that only weigh 4 kilograms, manufacturers will enable themselves to reduce the overall weight of their heavy-duty vans and trucks dramatically. Optimising the suspension systems of heavier vehicles with composite leaf springs allows the vehicle's suspension components to respond to uneven surfaces on the road at higher speeds, thus maximising contact between the tyre and the road. When designing EVs, the quickest possible reaction time to uneven surfaces will enable the vehicle to capture the most energy during regenerative braking.
• The Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and Resistance to Corrosion of Commercial Fleets: In the case of commercial fleets, the longevity of the vehicle is as much a consideration as its initial price. As steel leaf springs corrode quickly when exposed to road salt, most especially in Northern climates and on the coasts, creating stress risers on the leaf spring will eventually lead to catastrophic failure. Composite leaf springs do not suffer from corrosion since they are chemically inert. Fleet operation data from long-term trials indicates that composite leaves have approximately 30% lower suspension-related maintenance costs than their steel counterparts over the seven-year lifespan of the vehicle; in addition, composite leaves do not experience the "sag" effect that occurs with steel leaves, thus allowing the vehicle to maintain its ideal ride height and aerodynamic profile throughout its life cycle.
• E-Commerce Goes Global, and Opportunities Exist in Last Mile Delivery: E-Commerce is rapidly growing and thus has created a high demand for delivery vehicles, including "step-vans" and delivery vans. In most major markets, particularly in the U.S. and China, logistics companies must improve the efficiency of their vehicle fleets. Composite leaf springs allow delivery vans to transport more packages per trip, while remaining within legal weight limits. Additionally, the sound-damping properties of composites, which remove the empty "squeaky" and the heavy 'clattering' sounds associated with multiple stacked leaf springs made of steel, are gaining attention due to increasingly strict noise ordinances throughout urban areas. This is especially prevalent in the Asia Pacific region, where the infrastructure improvements being made accelerate the need for strong, dependable LCVs.
• US Tariffs on China Effects E-Commerce Composite Supply Chain: The recently changed trade policy of the United States is another cause for the growth of composite manufacturers; however, it is a more complicated factor. Based on a title-specific report titled: "US Tariffs' Impacts on the Global Automotive Composite Supply Chain." The 25% Tariff that went into effect on April 1, 2025, for shipments of automotive parts from China has created a void in the automotive carbon fibre market that has led to the establishment of domestic and USMCA-based composite manufacturing development programs. While these tariffs initially posed an increased cost for all imported raw carbon fibre, they later accelerated the trend of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) toward "near shoring" their supply chains. This trend has led to new development investments for composite manufacturing in Mexico and the United States, and advances in the production technology and High Pressure Resin Transfer Moulding (HP-RTM) methods are being made to accommodate local customers' needs.
The primary challenge facing the Automotive Composite Leaf Spring Market is the high initial cost of raw materials and manufacturing. Carbon fibre and high-grade epoxy resins are significantly more expensive than spring steel. While E-glass fibre is more affordable, the manufacturing process for composites is often slower and more energy-intensive than traditional steel stamping. However, this challenge presents an opportunity for innovation in "snap-cure" resins and automated fibre placement (AFP) technologies, which are rapidly bringing cycle times down to under three minutes per part. Another opportunity lies in the development of bio-based resins and recyclable thermoplastics, addressing the growing regulatory pressure for circularity in the automotive supply chain.
October 2025: Hyundai Motor Group and Toray Group signed a definitive Joint Development Agreement (JDA) in Seoul. This agreement expands upon their April 2024 master agreement, specifically targeting the development of high-strength carbon fibre composites for future mobility platforms, including EVs and robots.
The market is segmented by fibre type, by vehicle type, by manufacturing process, and by geography.
By Fibre Type: Glass Fibre Composite
In the GFRP Composite category, GFRP is the largest segment by far, with over 85% of the total composites volume. This is primarily because cost and performance are well-balanced. GFRP leaf springs weigh about half (50% - 60%) as much as steel while being priced reasonably enough for mass-market LCVs and SUVs. Technically, GFRP has a strain energy density allowing for shock absorption in suspension applications. In contrast to carbon fibre, which can be too stiff and brittle, the lower modulus of elasticity of GFRP allows for more significant amounts of competition when utilising GFRP leaf springs.
Other factors have contributed to the rapid growth of the LCV segment in composite applications. Specifically, delivery vans, pickup trucks, and shuttle buses make up the most substantial growth in the LCV market for composite leaf springs. For commercial carriers, the justification for the higher price of composite springs is quite compelling! The reason is simple: with a composite spring, you can carry more weight and save on fuel consumption due to the spring's vibration-damping properties! Another factor driving demand for composites in this segment is the high degree of urban driving "stop-and-go" conditions. Many of the leading manufacturers in the European and American markets have transitioned composite leaf springs from optional to standard on their flagship electric models as of January 2026.
North America is expected to be the largest region for the market of automotive composite leaf springs. The unique mix of vehicles within the North American region lends itself to a focus on heavy-duty trailers and Class 1-3 Full-Size Pickup Trucks (FPT). The United States leads in this growth, as both Ford Motor Company (F), the General Motors Company (GM), and Stellantis N.V. have focused on aggressive lightweighting of their flagship truck platforms to comply with 2026 CAFE standards. Hendrickson, a leading provider of composite leaf springs based in Illinois, has taken the opportunity to grow its LITEFLEX production capacity to respond to increased local demand for these products. Additionally, a partnership between Rassini and Hexion has been formed to produce the hybrid leaf spring for the 2020 Ford F-150 (produced in Mexico), creating a model for the region to use USMCA-compliant supply chains to prevent tariffs, while providing advanced, lightweight technology-based solutions. The composite leaf spring will also be valuable for the growing Class 8 Trailer market in North America, allowing for significant (over 200 lb) savings on tandem axles for logistics providers like Kroger and Walmart.
South America has emerged as a high-growth region, specifically due to the Green Mobility and Innovation Program (MOVER) launched by the Brazilian government at the end of 2023 and fully active by January 2025. This program provides approximately USD 4.8 billion in financial credits for companies that invest in decarbonization and energy efficiency. As a result, South America is transitioning from a consumer of old technology to a regional hub for advanced manufacturing.
The top-down approach characterises the European market's regulatory power. New Euro 7 Regulations will be among the drivers of weight reduction for automotive manufacturers by reducing brake and tyre dust emissions using composite materials; this has become an area of high focus in the new regulations. Germany is the technological hub of Europe, and premium automotive manufacturers such as Mercedes and Volkswagen have utilised a transverse composite leaf spring within the van platforms, including the Sprinter and Crafter, for years, but the growing trend now is into smaller passenger electric platforms.
The Middle East is a high-potential market driven by state-led industrialisation. Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 is at the centre of this, with the Kingdom launching its first home-grown EV brand, Ceer, in partnership with Foxconn. The extreme temperatures and corrosive coastal environments in the Middle East make composite leaf springs an ideal choice over steel, which often suffers from premature fatigue and rust in the desert heat. Saudi Arabia is also looking to leverage its petrochemical wealth to produce carbon fibre precursors locally, aiming to create a vertically integrated "well-to-wheel" composite supply chain by 2030. The market in South Africa is also seeing growth, particularly in the mining vehicle sector, where the durability and payload benefits of composite suspension are highly valued.
Growth has primarily focused on China, which is both the largest producer and consumer of New Energy Vehicles (NEV) in the world. Chinese Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) such as BYD, SAIC, and Geely are rapidly introducing composite parts and materials to provide a differentiating factor to their products in an increasingly crowded marketplace. While the North American marketplace has a preference for glass fibre in manufacturing trucks, the Asian market is focusing much more of its research and development efforts on the use of carbon fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP) in manufacturing high-speed electric rail systems and luxury electric vehicle (EV) sedans. A significant milestone for the Asia Pacific Region was achieved in October 2025 when Hyundai Motor Group and Toray Industries signed a Strategic Joint Development Agreement in Seoul. Their partnership is expected to advance the use of high-performance composites in the future of mobility, including robots and lunar exploration vehicles. India is becoming a major manufacturing hub for light commercial vehicle (LCV) production, and companies such as Tata Motors and Mahindra are investigating the use of composite springs to increase the efficiency of their rapidly expanding e-commerce delivery fleets. The biggest challenge for the Asia Pacific Region is cost sensitivity, which has resulted in an enormous amount of glass-fibre-reinforced polymer (GFRP) volume generated by the automated, low-cost production methods of resin transfer moulding (RTM) lines.