China's Invisible Car Film Market: From Import Dependence to Independent Innovation

Currently, the invisible car films on the market are mainly composed of five layers, with the core functional layers consisting of the middle three layers (functional coating - TPU base film - adhesive layer) being the most important. These directly determine the protective performance, durability, and construction reliability. Studies show that vehicles equipped with high-quality three-layer structured invisible car films can reduce paint repair costs by approximately 70% compared to unprotected vehicles.

TPU includes two types: aliphatic and aromatic. Aliphatic TPU is widely used in the production of car protective films due to its excellent yellowing resistance and weather resistance. The TPU base film is the primary cost component of the protective film. Through technological upgrades and large-scale production, leading companies have achieved significant optimization in the production costs of key materials (such as TPU base film and functional coatings).

The current market exhibits a distinct gradient pattern: Lubrizol, Huntsman, and BASF occupy the high-end segment, Covestro holds the mid-to-high-end segment, while domestic companies are mainly concentrated in the mid-range and mass markets. According to research by China Chemical Information, although domestic TPU pellets have made breakthroughs in mass production capacity, there remains a certain gap compared to top international products in key indicators such as long-term weather resistance and batch stability. This technological gap forces domestic companies to rely on price competition to gain market share, while imported brands adjust their pricing strategies to respond to the competition, resulting in continuous pressure on industry profit margins.

Faced with intense market competition, some companies choose to break through industry bottlenecks with a closed-loop model. A typical example isNylonchem has established a full-chain production capability from "resin to base film to car wrap," enabling precise control over cost, quality, and delivery cycles.Although this model requires heavy asset investment, it significantly improves product consistency and supply chain stability, enabling successful entry into the North American high-end market, with exports accounting for 40% and achieving brand premium.

From 2022 to 2024, the number of TPU base film manufacturers doubled, with 20 new entrants. Notably, nearly 80% of base film manufacturers chose to extend downstream by directly entering the production of car wrap finished products. Companies such as Shanxi Dingxin, Shichuang Optics, and Jizhi Technology have compressed intermediate costs through integrated operations. In contrast, a few companies like Hanlong Technology, Kaiyang New Materials, and Boruisi adhere to a specialized base film production model, focusing on technological barriers in niche segments.

In the production process of paint protection film (PPF), adhesive is a key auxiliary material that affects product performance, and is currently still mainly sourced externally. Industry data shows that solvent-based acrylic adhesives are the first choice for PPF manufacturers due to their excellent bonding stability, low cost advantages, and suitability for high-speed coating processes.

Currently, the adhesive segment in China's paint protection film market is highly concentrated, with four major manufacturers—Foshan Linggu, Jiangsu Guojiao, Aslan, and Henkel—accounting for approximately 80% of the market share. Notably, domestic adhesives, leveraging significant cost advantages, are accelerating the reconstruction of the local supply chain.

In the core technology matrix of paint protection film, the self-healing coating directly determines the product’s market competitiveness.The current industry mainly adopts two technical paths: the PU thermosetting system, which dominates the mainstream market due to its mature process, stable performance, and mass production yield exceeding 95%; and the higher-performance UV curing technology, which is mainly used in high-end customized fields due to its stringent substrate compatibility requirements and high overall costs.As leading companies accelerate their shift toward technology-driven transformation, this niche sector is undergoing profound restructuring.

The self-healing coating market is relatively small, with around 20 manufacturing companies and a relatively fragmented and disordered production capacity. Major brands include Cashew WanHui, Tohui, Hanfei, Lihua, etc. There is little differentiation among products from various companies; price, distribution channels, brand, and after-sales service are the key competitive factors in the industry. Currently, major mainstream domestic paint protection film (PPF) brands have developed, produced, and used functional coatings in-house, while a large number of small PPF manufacturers have weak R&D capabilities. The self-healing coating industry thus has high entry barriers for small PPF companies.

With the advancement of functional coating technology upgrades, leading coating companies are increasing their investment in independent research and development, driving the industry’s transformation from production-driven to technology-driven. Currently, leading enterprises are reshaping competitive rules through vertical integration, with companies such as Nar Industrial and Nacoda establishing an integrated "R&D-production-application" system to achieve cost reduction and efficiency improvement.

Domestic brands of paint protection films are rapidly reshaping the market landscape.Its market share surged from less than 30% in 2018 to over 60% in 2024, marking the first historic overtaking of international brands.The underlying momentum of this disruptive transformation stems from the dual competitive barriers built by local enterprises: on one hand, they continuously amplify the cost-performance advantage of their products through large-scale production; on the other hand, they compress the overall solution price of "car film products + professional installation" to 50%-70% of foreign brands by utilizing a nationwide refined construction service system. This innovative model, which deeply integrates product strength with service value in scenarios, not only significantly lowers the decision-making threshold for consumers but also marks a strategic leap in industry competition from a pure price war to a systematic value war. Amid the narrowing average industry profit margins, large-scale enterprises are still advancing capacity expansion against the trend. This seemingly contradictory layout actually implies a survival logic: consolidating market share through supply chain integration (such as the pre-cutting mode for OEMs that can shorten construction cycles) and channel bundling (with the distribution system accounting for 70%). Meanwhile, the OEM model is becoming a buffer for small and medium-sized manufacturers to absorb excess capacity.

The application scenarios for paint protection film (PPF) are undergoing structural expansion, shifting from being an exclusive feature for luxury vehicles to rapidly penetrating the mainstream consumer market. In 2024, the installation rate for vehicles priced between 200,000 and 400,000 RMB has exceeded 16%, an increase of 10 percentage points compared to 2018, marking the product's transformation from a high-end luxury item to an essential automotive care product. This dual-engine market penetration is driven by the luxury car segment, which continues to maintain an average annual installation rate growth of 8%, and new energy vehicles, which, with annual sales of 12 million units (a 40% market share) and a consumer base highly receptive to new technologies, have achieved an industry-leading penetration rate of 30% to 40%.The underlying logic driving transformation lies in three major breakthroughs: the rational restructuring of product price ranges, the upgrading of consumer concepts regarding paint surface maintenance, and the establishment of a closed-loop reach enabled by a 70% year-on-year growth in online channels. Together, these factors are propelling the industry into a new era of mass consumer adoption.

Under the highly competitive domestic PPF industry, most companies choose to develop export businesses to obtain higher profits. Chinese invisible car film enterprises mainly export to Southeast Asia, North America, Europe, and Russia, further enhancing profit margins through exports.

In the future, the paint protection film (PPF) industry will continue to maintain a rapid development trend. With ongoing technological breakthroughs and further release of production capacity, industry competition will gradually shift from price wars to contests of technology and service capabilities. Enterprises with core material development capabilities and comprehensive service systems will gain greater development space. Meanwhile, with the rapid expansion of the new energy vehicle market, the development of PPF products tailored to the specific needs of electric vehicles will also become a new direction for technological breakthroughs in the industry.Overall, China's paint protection film industry has entered a stage of high-quality development and is transitioning from following and imitating to innovation-driven leadership.