Policy And Technology Drive High-Quality Development Of Brake Pad Industry: Shandong Huaruifeng Leads Green Innovation
At the start of 2026, China's brake pad industry is embracing dual opportunities brought by policy upgrades and technological transformation. With the implementation of the revised edition of Technical Conditions for Motor Vehicle Operation Safety and the penetration rate of new energy vehicles (NEVs) exceeding 40%, the industry is accelerating its transition towards green environmental protection, intelligent adaptation, and high-end manufacturing. As a core enterprise in Shandong's auto parts industrial cluster, Shandong Huaruifeng Machinery Co., Ltd. has become a key force driving the high-quality development of the industry through continuous efforts in environmentally friendly formula R&D, NEV-specific product layout, and industrial chain collaboration.
Industry Structural Adjustment Accelerates, Green and Intelligent Become Core Tracks
According to the latest data from Qianzhan Industry Research Institute, the scale of China's brake pad market has steadily grown from 19.8 billion yuan to 27.6 billion yuan between 2021 and 2025, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.7%. Among them, the aftermarket share has risen to 63%, reflecting the dual upgrading of replacement demand for existing vehicles and consumers' quality requirements. At the policy level, the national Guidelines for Green Manufacturing of Auto Parts clearly stipulates that by 2027, the proportion of environmentally friendly brake pads for newly produced passenger cars shall not be less than 60%, and copper-free and low-heavy-metal formulas have become key access thresholds for the industry. Meanwhile, the rapid popularization of NEVs has reshaped market logic-energy recovery systems have reduced mechanical braking wear by more than 30%, forcing products to iterate towards high heat resistance, low drag, and noise reduction. The market for NEV-specific brake pads has achieved an annual growth rate of over 50%.
In terms of technological evolution, the industry is accelerating the phase-out of traditional high-copper and high-pollution formulas, with the penetration rate of new materials such as ceramic-based and carbon-ceramic composites continuously increasing. The market share of ceramic brake pads reached 18% in 2025 and is expected to exceed 25% by 2030. Intelligent brake pads equipped with wear warning and temperature sensing functions have entered the small-batch verification stage. Against this backdrop, industry concentration will further increase-the CR10 is projected to rise from the current 35% to over 45% by 2030. Enterprises with material R&D capabilities and international certification qualifications will dominate the competitive landscape.
Shandong's Industrial Cluster Advantage Highlights, Huaruifeng Achieves Breakthroughs in Three Core Areas
Leveraging Shandong's sound auto parts industrial chain foundation and logistics advantages, Shandong Huaruifeng Machinery Co., Ltd. has accurately grasped industry transformation trends and achieved key breakthroughs in three core areas:
In environmental formula upgrading, the company took the lead in industrializing copper-free NAO formulas. Its products are completely free of harmful substances such as copper and antimony, with dust emissions reduced by 40% compared to traditional products. Certified by CCC and E-MARK, these products meet strict environmental standards at home and abroad. Since their launch, the environmental product series has quickly gained after-sales market orders for commercial vehicles and supporting orders from NEV manufacturers. In 2025, the sales volume of environmentally friendly products accounted for 55% of the total.
To meet NEV adaptation needs, Huaruifeng has jointly developed NEV-specific brake pads with university research teams. Adopting a composite formula of ceramic fibers and aramid, these products solve industry pain points such as corrosion and delayed braking response caused by low braking frequency of electric vehicles. With a thermal stability of over 600℃, their service life is 30% longer than that of traditional products. Currently, these products have been adapted to a variety of mainstream NEVs for commercial and passenger use, becoming a new growth engine for the enterprise.
In industrial chain collaboration, based on the advantages of Shandong's industrial cluster, the company has established strategic cooperation with local resin and fiber material suppliers to build a localized supply chain system from raw materials to finished products, maintaining a capacity utilization rate of over 85%. At the same time, it has introduced intelligent hot-press forming production lines, improving product consistency accuracy to ±0.02mm, which meets the dual needs of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and the aftermarket (AM). In 2025, export volume increased by 32% year-on-year, with products exported to emerging markets such as Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
Outlook 2026: Deepening Technological R&D and Global Layout
Facing the industry opportunity of the market scale exceeding 32 billion yuan during 2026-2030, the general manager of Shandong Huaruifeng Machinery Co., Ltd. stated that the company will continue to increase R&D investment, focusing on tackling key technologies such as mass production of carbon-ceramic composite materials and integration of intelligent braking monitoring systems. It plans to establish a provincial-level friction material engineering laboratory within the year. Meanwhile, the company will deepen supporting cooperation with domestic and foreign OEMs, expand high-end markets in Europe and South America, empower industry transformation through technological innovation, and provide safer, more environmentally friendly, and reliable braking solutions for global users.
Industry experts point out that driven by policies, demand upgrades, and technological innovation, China's brake pad industry is moving away from homogeneous competition and entering a new stage of high-quality development. Local enterprises represented by Shandong Huaruifeng are expected to occupy a more important position in the global industrial chain through focusing on green manufacturing and segmented market cultivation, promoting China's transformation from a major brake pad producer to a manufacturing power.
