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The global low voltage motors market was valued at nearly $16bn in 2013, with approximately 50 million motors shipped during the year. Revenue growth has been more rapid than that of unit shipments due to various motor efficiency legislations being enacted around the world.
As a result of these legislative initiatives, motors that are more energy efficient and more expensive are being mandated to manufacturers, OEMs and end-users alike. This substantially inflates the revenue growth of the low voltage motors market, particularly when compared to other industrial automation product markets. IE3 Transition
Motor transistion
The revenue growth has been bolstered by the transition to IE3 (Premium ¬efficiency) motors in North America, and the European and Chinese shifts to IE2 (High efficiency) motors, which went into effect in 2011 and 2012 respectively.
The market’s revenue growth will continue outpacing unit growth, as future updates to the various regional initiatives will continue increasing motor efficiency requirements resulting in higher average motor prices, or possibly expanding the scope of the covered motors, as in the case of the US market.
After accounting for 69% of the market’s unit shipments in 2012, IE1 (Standard Efficiency) motors are expected to comprise 36% of market volume by 2017 (See Figure below). These products are sold mainly in the emerging markets that have yet to adopt any type of efficiency ¬regulations. IE2 motors represented an estimated 17% of all units in 2012, but are expected to account for nearly 44% of total market shipments by 2017.
The main market for these motors through 2011 was in North America, but starting in 2012 and beyond both the European and the Chinese transitions are significantly increasing demand for these motors. IE3 motors accounted for only 10% of global shipments in 2012, and will see another rapid increase in demand starting in both 2015 and 2017, when the European Union moves to implement the next phase of its motor efficiency ¬legislation and Japan implements its own Minimum Efficiency Performance Standards (MEPS).
IE4 category The IE4 (Super Premium Efficiency) ¬category, which consists mainly of squirrel-cage permanent magnet, synchronous and switched reluctance machines, accounted for less than 1% of all motor units in 2012. Due to the high cost of rare-earth ¬permanent magnets (REPM), and the requirement for variable frequency drive operation, this segment of the market is not expected to grow significantly by 2017. On average, the cost of a REPM motor is two to three times higher than the cost of an equivalent AC induction machine. These factors will limit the growth potential of this market segment in the short term.
The top industry sectors for low voltage motors include Commercial HVAC, food, beverage and tobacco, mining, utilities, paper, material handling, automotive, packaging, plastics and oil & gas. The leading suppliers of low voltage motors on a global level include ABB (including Baldor), Siemens, WEG, Regal Beloit, Teco, Leroy Somer, Toshiba, Huali (China), Hyundai, Hyosung and Nidec.
Alex Chausovsky is the manager and principal analyst of the Motor Driven Equipment group at IHS.
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