The steering system is a key safety execution assembly of the automobile chassis. Its core function is to accurately convert the driver’s torque input into wheel angle to control the vehicle’s driving trajectory, which directly determines the vehicle’s handling stability, driving safety and intelligent driving execution capabilities.
The product system in this field covers high-precision machined parts such as steering housings, racks, columns, motor brackets, electronic control unit housings and various aluminum alloy structural parts.
Driven by the steady growth in passenger car production and sales and the continued increase in the penetration rate of new energy vehicles, the global automotive steering system market size has reached 209.45 billion yuan in 2024, and is expected to grow to 255.730 billion yuan by 2031
, the compound growth rate (CAGR) in the next six years is expected to be 2.9%; in the domestic market, the overall market size of automobile steering systems in 2025 will be approximately 51 billion yuan, and the compound growth rate from 2020 to 2025 is expected to reach 4.90%.
Looking at the development history of automobile steering systems, its technological evolution shows a clear progression from mechanization to electrification and then to intelligence.
This system has iterated from the early mechanical steering and hydraulic power steering to the currently widely used electric power steering (EPS), and is accelerating towards the steer-by-wire (SBW) stage.
In this process, by continuously improving transmission efficiency and system reliability, the automobile steering system has achieved significant optimization in terms of driving safety, ease of control, energy economy and dynamic response performance.
Steer-by-wire for high-end intelligent driving is still in its early stages of development, with low overall penetration and only a small number of vehicles installed in concept cars and high-end models. Although there are expectations for long-term penetration growth, due to the stringent functional safety and reliability standards of automotive steering systems, national regulations have imposed rigid requirements on steering mechanical connections or redundant backups. Large-scale implementation of the technology requires the completion of long-term reliability verification and the resolution of regulatory adaptation problems; at the same time, the domestic passenger car market structure is further evolving
The sales volume of domestic models priced below 300,000 yuan has remained at 85%-90% all year round. Among them, mainstream household models priced between 100,000 and 200,000 yuan account for close to 50%, and luxury models above 300,000 yuan only account for about 10%. The high cost of the steering-by-wire system makes it difficult to adapt to the pricing of mainstream models. Under the constraints of these two factors, the future automobile steering industry will form a long-term development pattern in which electric power steering is the mainstream market base and steering-by-wire is the direction of cutting-edge technology exploration.
From the upstream and downstream perspectives of the industry, the upstream of the automobile steering system parts industry covers the supply of raw materials such as steel, aluminum alloys, copper, rubber, electronic components, and plastics, as well as manufacturers that rely on machining, casting and forging to produce basic steering gear parts. With the development trend of automobile lightweighting, the application proportion of aluminum alloy parts continues to increase, and it has now become the basis for mid- to high-end models and
The mainstream material selection for new energy models; the downstream demand of the industry is divided into the pre-assembled supporting market and the after-sales service market. The pre-assembled supporting market is for vehicle manufacturing companies and is the core downstream market of the industry. The after-sales market relies on the existing car inventory to generate maintenance and replacement needs. Related parts are ultimately used in the assembly and production of passenger cars and commercial vehicles. End customers include domestic and foreign OEMs and parts suppliers at all levels.
The current development of the industry presents three core trends: First, on the technical path, electric power steering has a prominent mainstream position in the trend of electric intelligence. Its characteristic of starting the motor only when turning is more suitable for electric vehicle energy consumption management and control. Its own electronic control interface can also quickly receive instructions from the intelligent driving system, which is a good choice.
The core execution carrier of ADAS functions such as lane keeping and automatic parking, electric power steering has been verified through multiple rounds of iterations and mass loading. Compared with steer-by-wire, it has mature and cost-effective functional safety, redundant backup and electromagnetic compatibility solutions, and can operate stably under various complex working conditions.
Second, in terms of materials and technology, lightweighting and greening are developing in parallel. The industry is gradually replacing traditional steel with lightweight and high-strength materials such as aluminum alloy and titanium alloy. Relying on topology optimization and integrated design to reduce splicing points and stress concentration, the manufacturing end is popularizing near-net forming processes to reduce blank processing margins. At the same time, it is accelerating the large-scale use of recycled aluminum, establishing a complete recycling and reuse and quality inspection system, and creating a green cycle production model suitable for the low-carbon transformation of automobiles.
Third, in terms of manufacturing upgrades, precision manufacturing and intelligent upgrades are being promoted in tandem. Intelligent driving levels are constantly improving, and OEM quality control standards continue to be tightened. The market has put forward higher requirements for the durability, reliability, and batch uniformity of steering parts. Companies are generally equipped with high-precision machining centers, fully automatic testing equipment, and customized tooling to optimize parameters for the entire process. At the same time, they integrate process, production, and quality data to build a digital system covering design, production, and testing, forming a data closed-loop production model, reducing reliance on manual experience, stabilizing batch product quality, and improving overall production efficiency and corporate competitiveness.
From the perspective of competition, the automotive steering system industry is a fully competitive track. German and Japanese foreign leaders rely on the technology, production capacity and global vehicle supporting resources accumulated in the era of fuel vehicles to dominate the market. Domestic companies rely on the huge local market and improved industrial ecology, and use technological cooperation, mergers and acquisitions to seize new energy dividends and continuously expand market share.
At present, the core of industry competition has shifted from traditional mechanical processing capabilities to comprehensive strength in electronic control, software algorithms and system integration. The binding relationship between upstream and downstream supply chains continues to deepen, and the entry barriers for new corporate customers are high. In the future, with the implementation of intelligent driving technology and the strengthening of domestic independent supporting parts and components, the industry competition landscape will continue to differentiate and accelerate reconstruction.
