Brake Pad Industry: The Rise Of Regional Blue Ocean, A New Bureau Of Commercial Vehicle And Policy Co-drive Growth
Regional Market Differentiation Intensifies; Tier-3 and Tier-4 Cities Become Key Growth Drivers
On the basis of a 100-billion-yuan market scale, China's brake pad industry in 2025 has witnessed significant differentiation in regional consumption patterns. In first-tier cities, due to consumers' higher demands for driving safety and quietness, the proportion of ceramic-based brake pads has reached 58%, with the average price per set exceeding 800 yuan, showing a clear trend towards high-endization. In contrast, tier-3, tier-4 cities and county-level markets still mainly rely on more cost-effective resin-based brake pads, accounting for over 65% of the local market. However, as the penetration rate of new energy vehicles (NEVs) in these sinking markets has increased by 12 percentage points year-on-year, the demand for mid-to-high-end brake pads in this region has grown by 38%, emerging as a new blue ocean for industry growth.
Central and western regions have also seized development opportunities driven by the transfer of the NEV industry. In industrial clusters represented by Chongqing and Xi'an, the supporting orders of local brake pad enterprises increased by 52% year-on-year in the first half of 2025, among which high-temperature-resistant brake pads customized for new energy commercial vehicles accounted for over 40%. A person in charge of a brake pad enterprise in Chongqing stated, "With the expansion of local new energy heavy-duty truck production capacity, our customized products have upgraded from 'supporting supply' to 'technological collaboration', and the order delivery cycle has been shortened by 15% compared with last year."
Along with the recovery of China's logistics industry and the ownership of new energy commercial vehicles exceeding 800,000 units, the market scale of commercial vehicle brake pads in 2025 increased by 32% year-on-year. Among them, the demand for specialized brake pads for new energy commercial vehicles grew by an even higher 67%, becoming a crucial pillar driving industry growth. Different from passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles have stricter requirements for the durability and safety of brake pads due to their heavy load-bearing capacity and high braking frequency, prompting enterprises to accelerate technological iteration.
The carbon-ceramic composite brake pads for commercial vehicles developed by Zhongding Group have reduced the wear rate by 60% compared with traditional semi-metallic products and extended the service life to over 100,000 kilometers through optimized material formulas. Currently, these products have been mass-supplied to new energy commercial vehicle enterprises such as BYD and Yutong. Xinyi Braking launched intelligent brake pads with temperature monitoring function, which can transmit real-time braking temperature data to the on-board system and warn of overheating risks, making them suitable for long-distance freight scenarios. In the second quarter of 2025, the sales volume of this product accounted for 28% of the enterprise's commercial vehicle business, with increasing market recognition.
In June 2025, the newly revised version of the "Motor Vehicle Brake System Safety Technical Specification" was officially implemented. The new regulation not only added a dynamic testing requirement that the friction coefficient must remain >= 0.3 under high-temperature conditions but also reduced the limit standards for harmful substances such as lead and cadmium by 50% compared with the old version, further raising the industry entry threshold. Only half a year after the policy was implemented, the number of small-scale workshop-style enterprises decreased by 15%, and the market share of leading enterprises (with annual revenue exceeding 1 billion yuan) increased from 35% in 2023 to 48%, significantly optimizing the industry concentration.
Policy dividends have also benefited the export market simultaneously. Affected by the early implementation of the EU Euro 7 emission regulations, domestic enterprises with nickel-free coating and low-dust technologies have seen a substantial growth in export orders. Jin Qilin's export revenue in the first half of 2025 increased by 42% year-on-year, with exports to the European market accounting for 61%. Zhongli'an passed the North American DOT certification and successfully entered Tesla's new energy heavy-duty truck supporting system, becoming the first domestic enterprise to supply brake pads to the North American commercial vehicle market. The unit price of its export products is 30% higher than that of traditional products, significantly enhancing profitability.
Cross-border Collaboration Becomes a Trend; Accelerated Integration and Innovation in the Industrial Chain
To seize the technological high ground, brake pad enterprises are accelerating cross-border cooperation with upstream and downstream industrial chains. In July 2025, CATL and Asia Pacific Group signed a strategic cooperation agreement to jointly develop a "battery-brake energy recovery-brake pad" collaborative system. By optimizing the energy recovery strategy, the mechanical wear of brake pads is reduced, extending the product service life by 25%. Currently, this technology has entered the real-vehicle testing phase. Huawei has collaborated with Trina Solar to integrate automotive-grade millimeter-wave sensors into brake pads, realizing real-time interaction between braking data and the on-board intelligent system, further improving the driving safety factor.
In the field of green recycling, GEM Co., Ltd. jointly established the "Waste Brake Pad Recycling Alliance" with 12 brake pad enterprises. In the first half of 2025, 12,000 tons of waste brake pads have been recycled and processed, with a metal recovery rate of 92%. The recycled materials can be reused in the production of brake pad fillers, promoting the industry to form a closed loop of "resource-product-recycling-reuse". Industry analysts point out that in 2025, the brake pad industry has shifted from single-product competition to comprehensive competition of "technology + scenario + ecology". Enterprises with regional market insight, commercial vehicle customization capabilities and policy compliance will occupy an advantageous position in future competition.
