OPINION: Countries Having the Greatest Potential for Automobile Market Expansion (2026-2030)

The global automobile market has been sluggish since its record high 96.64 million units in 2017. The following year saw a slump in the Chinese market and a decline in Western Europe because of renewed economic sanctions on Iran and the uncertainty preceding the UK’s withdrawal from the EU in January 2020, resulting in a decline in demand below 96 million units. The COVID-19 pandemic caused sales to drop below 80 million units in 2020, and although there has been a recovery trend since, the market size in 2025 was a little over 94 million units, bolstered by an increase in China but still falling short of the 2017 result. However, depending on the state of the global economy and international affairs, there is a possibility that growth in emerging countries like China, India, Indonesia, Brazil, and Argentina will lead the global market to reach a new record high within the next few years. On the other hand, it is noted that markets in developed countries are stagnating because some demand is shifting to used vehicles due to increased spending on IT products like smartphones, in addition to rising new automobile prices.