By 2007, Europe`s vehicle manufacturers will be needing well over 900 million electric motors a year for uses ranging from power steering to seat adjustments.

Last year, almost 560 million sub-750W motors were bought by European vehicle producers, generating a market worth $1.67bn. By 2007, 929 million motors will be needed, producing $2.24bn of sales.

These figures come from a new study* of the European market for automotive electric motors, published by the analyst Frost & Sullivan. The company reports that the growing demand for motors is being fuelled by the increasing use of electric motors where mechanical controls would have been used previously.

The study splits the market into three areas:

• comfort-related motors, for uses such as electric windows and windscreen wipers, which account for 62.6% of the total market;

• performance-related motors, used to enhance controls such as automatic braking systems; and

• simple, low-cost motors for duties such as door locks and air-conditioning flaps. More than 40 suppliers are chasing after this business, resulting in heavy discounting and price cuts. The market is dominated by multinationals such as Robert Bosch (with more than 30% of the business) and Johnson Electric.

* The European Automotive Electric Motors Market (Report 3719). Price €5,000. More on 020 7730 3438.