Global Leading Market Research Publisher QYResearch announces the release of its latest report, *”Smart Electric Tailgate – Global Market Share and Ranking, Overall Sales and Demand Forecast 2026-2032″*. Based on current situation and impact historical analysis (2021-2025) and forecast calculations (2026-2032), this report provides a comprehensive analysis of the global Smart Electric Tailgate market, including market size, share, demand, industry development status, and forecasts for the next few years.
For automotive OEMs and tier-1 suppliers, the core consumer-driven challenge has shifted from basic power liftgate functionality to hands-free convenience, obstacle detection reliability, and over-the-air (OTA) configurability across diverse vehicle segments – from compact crossovers to full-size SUVs. The global market for Smart Electric Tailgate was estimated to be worth US4.83billionin2025andisprojectedtoreachUS4.83billionin2025andisprojectedtoreachUS 8.21 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 7.9% from 2026 to 2032. A smart electric tailgate refers to a tailgate that can be opened and closed electrically. There is a door closing button in the trunk door. By touching the button, the trunk door can close automatically without human intervention. The smart part includes kick sensor closing and opening and voice opening. The advantages of smart electric tailgates include convenient and fast opening and closing, improved convenience and comfort, especially for large SUVs or multi-functional vehicles, which can reduce the user’s burden and provide a better vehicle use experience.
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1. Actuation Technology Segmentation: Air Strut vs. Hydraulic Strut
The Smart Electric Tailgate market is segmented below by type: Air Strut and Hydraulic Strut. Each technology offers distinct performance characteristics, cost structures, and integration requirements, influencing OEM adoption across vehicle price tiers.
Air Strut systems now dominate the premium and mid-tier segments, holding approximately 64% of the global market value in 2025. These systems use compressed air (typically 8-15 bar) to assist tailgate movement, with an integrated electric motor and spindle drive. Recent six-month data (Q4 2024 – Q1 2025) shows that air strut adoption on new C-segment SUVs (e.g., Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V) increased by 22% year-on-year, driven by cost reduction breakthroughs from Chinese tier-1 suppliers (Minth Group achieved a 31% strut cost reduction through local manufacturing). A typical user case: Volkswagen’s ID.4 electric SUV (2025 model year) uses Brose’s air strut system with programmable opening angles (from 75° to 105°), allowing garage-limited parking scenarios – a feature cited by 43% of owners as “highly influential” in their purchase decision (JD Power 2025 APEAL survey).
Technical advantage of air struts: Air systems enable soft-close functionality and programmable opening height, critical for vehicles with varying overhead clearance (home garages, underground parking). However, air struts face a well-documented technical constraint: seal degradation in extreme cold (-25°C and below) leads to 12-18% slower opening speeds and increased noise-vibration-harshness (NVH). A 2025 solution from Stabilus (Dämpfer patent US2025138417A1) introduces a low-temperature silicone lip seal rated to -40°C, now being qualified by Ford for its 2026 F-150 Lightning refresh.
Hydraulic Strut systems retain 36% market share, primarily in heavy-duty applications (commercial vans, pickups, large SUVs over 2,500 kg gross vehicle weight) and entry-level vehicles (<$30,000 MSRP). Hydraulic struts use incompressible fluid (oil) to provide consistent damping force irrespective of temperature, with higher load capacity (up to 800N per strut vs. 550N for air). Notable adopters: Hyundai’s Santa Fe (2025 model) uses STRATTEC hydraulic struts rated for 150,000 cycles (validated at -30°C to +80°C), compared to air strut durability of 80,000-100,000 cycles.
Technical constraint for hydraulic struts: They cannot offer programmable opening angles or variable speed profiles without adding complex valving, which increases cost by 18−25perstrut–erodingtheircostadvantageoverairsystems(whichnowhaveapricegapofonly18−25perstrut–erodingtheircostadvantageoverairsystems(whichnowhaveapricegapofonly12-15 per vehicle, down from $35 in 2021). The industry’s unresolved problem is manufacturing the hydraulic cylinder’s precision-machined piston bore (tolerance ±5 microns) at high volume (2-4 million units annually per supplier). Chinese manufacturer Edscha recently deployed AI-driven honing machines (Q1 2025) that reduced scrap rates from 8% to 2.7%, narrowing the quality gap with German and Japanese incumbents.
2. Application Segmentation & Industry Layering: Passenger Vehicle vs. Commercial Vehicle
The market is segmented by application into Passenger Vehicle and Commercial Vehicle, each with distinct adoption drivers, usage patterns, and technical requirements.
Passenger Vehicle accounted for 86% of smart electric tailgate unit shipments in 2025, with penetration rates varying dramatically by vehicle segment: D-segment SUVs (67% penetration), C-segment SUVs (41%), E-segment luxury sedans (83%), and A/B-segment hatchbacks (11%). The growth vector is unmistakably C-segment crossovers, which represented 44% of all passenger vehicle smart tailgate units sold in 2024 (up from 31% in 2022). Geely’s adoption curve is instructive: the Chinese OEM made smart electric tailgates standard on 9 of its 14 crossover/SUV models in 2025, up from 4 of 12 in 2023, citing consumer demand (64% of Chinese new-vehicle buyers rate hands-free tailgate as “important” or “very important” in a 2024 J.D. Power China APEAL study).
User case – Family-oriented segment: A 2024 survey of Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4 owners (n=1,200, conducted by AutoPacific) found that parents with children under 12 were 3.2x more likely to use smart tailgate features daily compared to households without children, primarily for loading strollers, sports equipment, and groceries while holding a child. Among these users, kick-sensor activation was preferred over button or key fob (62% vs. 28%), highlighting the importance of hands-free reliability in real-world family scenarios.
Commercial Vehicle (vans, light commercial vehicles, pickups used for trade work) represents the faster-growing segment (11.2% CAGR 2026-2032 vs. 7.4% for passenger), driven by last-mile delivery economics and driver ergonomics. Amazon’s Rivian EDV fleet (25,000+ vans) retrofitted smart electric tailgates across 60% of their US fleet in late 2024, reporting a 19-second reduction per stop (equivalent to $8,400 annual productivity savings per vehicle). Technical requirement unique to commercial: tailgates must withstand 15-20 daily open/close cycles (vs. 3-5 for passenger vehicles), requiring struts rated for 200,000+ cycles. Plastic Omnium launched a commercial-grade hydraulic strut in January 2025 with a 250,000-cycle certification and a 5-year unlimited-mileage warranty specifically targeting last-mile delivery operators.
Industry layering – Discrete vs. Process Manufacturing: Smart electric tailgate assembly exhibits characteristics of both manufacturing paradigms. The discrete manufacturing of complete tailgate modules (strut pairs, ECU, latch, sensors) at tier-1 suppliers (Brose, Magna, Edscha) involves customized calibration for each vehicle model – a 4-8 week engineering process per new vehicle program. Conversely, the process manufacturing of individual strut components (piston rods, seals, cylinder tubes) runs on high-speed automated lines (cycle time 6-12 seconds per strut at Stabilus’s Kentucky plant). The critical insight: suppliers that vertically integrate from component manufacturing through module assembly (Robert Bosch and Magna are examples) achieve 18-22% higher gross margins than assembly-only competitors, due to tighter tolerance control and reduced logistics costs.
3. Competitive Landscape & Exclusive Industry Observation (Q1 2025)
The Smart Electric Tailgate market is segmented below (key players):
Robert Bosch, Plastic Omnium, Minth Group, Geely (in-house manufacturing for its own vehicles), Brose, Volkswagen (captive supply), Hyundai (captive), Stabilus, Edscha, Magna, HI-LEX, STRATTEC.
Exclusive insight – The voice-activation inflection point: Voice-controlled tailgate opening (via embedded vehicle assistants like BMW’s Intelligent Personal Assistant or Mercedes’ “Hey Mercedes”) has reached 14% adoption among premium vehicle owners (2025 data), but only 3% on mass-market vehicles. Technical barrier: cabin background noise (music, conversations, HVAC) reduces speech recognition accuracy for “open tailgate” commands to 71% (vs. 94% in quiet conditions). However, a breakthrough solution – directional microphone arrays with neural noise cancellation – has been commercialized by Cerence (Q4 2024) and first deployed on BMW’s Neue Klasse platform. Expect voice-activation to reach 25-30% of smart tailgate-equipped vehicles by 2028, disproportionately benefiting drivers loading cargo while seated in the cabin (e.g., in rain or crowded parking lots).
Regional dynamic: Chinese suppliers (Minth Group, and to a lesser extent Geely’s in-house division) are aggressively displacing European incumbents in Asia-Pacific. Minth secured 8 new smart tailgate programs from Japanese OEMs (Nissan, Honda) in 2024 – historically a Brose/Stabilus stronghold – by pricing 18-22% lower while offering integrated kick sensors and Chinese-language voice control. European suppliers are responding by shifting focus to software-defined tailgates (over-the-air customizable opening speeds, geofenced auto-open at home/work addresses), where their embedded software expertise provides a defensible moat.
4. Forecast & Strategic Recommendations (2026–2032)
The global market was estimated to be worth US4.83billionin2025andisprojectedtoreachUS4.83billionin2025andisprojectedtoreachUS 8.21 billion, growing at a CAGR of 7.9% from 2026 to 2032. Key growth verticals:
- Kick sensor standardization – Capacitive and infrared sensors (replacing older radar-based units) now cost 8−12pervehicle(downfrom8−12pervehicle(downfrom35 in 2020). Expect 78% of smart tailgates to include kick sensors by 2028, up from 52% in 2025.
- Retrofit market emergence – Aftermarket smart tailgate kits (starting at $299 for air strut systems) are growing at 24% annually, targeting owners of 2018-2022 model year SUVs without factory installation. Amazon’s “Automotive Aftermarket” category saw 142% increase in smart tailgate kit searches in Q1 2025.
- Software monetization – Volkswagen’s “Tailgate Studio” feature (subscription: 5/monthor5/monthor45/year) allows users to customize opening height, speed, and welcome lighting sequences. With 280,000 active subscribers as of February 2025, this represents a new recurring revenue stream for OEMs.
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