According to Semicast Research, Renesas Electronics was the leading supplier of semiconductors to the automotive sector in 2010, ahead of Infineon Technologies. Freescale Semiconductor, for many years the leading supplier of automotive semiconductors, dropped to fourth place behind STMicroelectronics, while Bosch moved up one step to fifth.
China remains one of the most significant growth drivers of the automotive sector, with light vehicle production in China totalling almost 15 million in 2010, double the level of 2008. Growth in China helped global light vehicle production volumes to rise strongly in 2010, to 71.3 million, an increase of 24 per cent from 57.6 million in 2009.