Globally, vehicle emission legislations are tightening and this has a major impact on the growth of automotive catalyst market that has shown relatively slow growth in the last few years. However, the market for automotive catalysts should start to grow fast as vehicle emission regulations have already been implemented for all heavy duty diesel (HDD) vehicles in Europe in October 2006 and in the United States in January 2007.

The automotive catalyst market that remained almost non-existent in 2005 is expected to grow into a billion dollar market by 2010 because of the new legislation for heavy duty diesel engines. The market is likely to get a further fillip by 2011 when legislation for off-road or non-road diesel (NRD) engines is also going to be implemented. NRD engine legislation will require various industries like construction, agriculture and mining to adhere to the same emission standards as HDD vehicles.

Players like Johnson Matthey, Umicore and Engelhard (acquired by BASF) are going to take a major share of the automotive catalyst market. While Johnson Matthey is likely to be the leader in the automotive catalyst market, Umicore has strategically positioned itself in the HDD vehicle market by acquiring the automotive catalyst division of Delphi.

The report is a study of the impact of emission regulations on the HDD engine market and the growth of automotive catalyst market. It studies the growth of HDD and NRD market on the back of the implementation of emission standards in the European Union and the United States. It analyses the technological development in diesel engines and the growth of HDD vehicle market in different geographies. Further, the report assesses the positioning and business strategies of the leading players in the automotive catalyst market - Johnson Matthey, Umicore and Engelhard.