New Kline Perspectives 2018 report identifies key lubricant trends 

A new research report outlining the key trends that have had a lasting impact on the lubricants industry has been published by Kline, a global market research and management consulting firm specializing in the lubricants industry. Kline Perspectives 2018 looks at the events happening in the past year, provides information on the current state of the industry and analyzes the top 10 trends that are forecast to be shaping the industry in the medium term.

“The emergence of new distribution channels, such as e-commerce, electric vehicle mandates, particularly in Europe, the emerging ecosystem for industrial manufacturing or the so-called ‘industry 4.0,’ and the increasing power of OEMs are among the top trends shaping the industry,” said Kunal Mahajan, Kline project manager. “These and other trends have the potential to transform the lubricants industry in the next 15 to 20 years, and it is important for lubricant industry participants to be aware of their impact.”

“For both global, as well regional lubricant marketers, broad-range and specialty suppliers seeking a proactive rather than a reactive strategy, it is more important than ever to examine the trends holistically,” said Yana Wilkinson, director at Kline’s Energy Consulting business. “By this, we mean the need to look at the drivers ‘at source’ —i.e., tracking them down to the consuming industries and applications—to get better clarity on what shapes the lubrication requirements. This first edition of Kline Perspectives is our attempt to refine the way we look at the future and formulate implications for the lubricants business. We linked mega-trends to specific implications for your marketing mix, and we did so by looking at how the different parts of the lubricant value chain interact, rather than by focusing on its individual parts. We are looking forward to discussions arising from this and we plan to incorporate the outcome and latest developments into the subsequent editions of the report.”

The first part of the study reviews the main events that characterized the past year, from major M&A deals to prominent political events that have had implications for the industry. It also analyzes the trends that every lubricant industry participant should closely watch.

The predictions and implications of these trends are the result of a collaboration between Kline’s lubricant industry research and consulting team experts. Their common ideas resulted in the identification of major lubricant market themes, which reflect mega-trends impacting the lubricant industry, evolving competition and influencers, evolving supply chain and developments in product and service offering.

The second part of the report provides key quantitative information of the lubricants, base oils, and lubricant additives markets. These include figures and data on market size, growth rates, major industry participants, new product launches and main market segments.