Publish Date: October 2026
Updated Tariff & Recession Risk Analysis and Forecasts
The Vehicle & Transportation Equipment Making Market Report covers the $1127.3 billion industry which produces mobility systems spanning ground, air, rail, and water applications for passenger, commercial, industrial, and defense sectors. Competitive structure encompasses global transportation corporations alongside specialized manufacturers addressing particular vehicle categories or component technologies. Market demands increasingly emphasize energy efficiency addressing both operating costs and environmental concerns, safety features protecting occupants and surroundings, digital integration supporting connectivity and automation, and increasingly specialized designs optimized for particular usage patterns. Manufacturers face challenges balancing complex system integration, stringent regulatory compliance across markets, supplier network management, and significant trade policy implications directly affecting global production strategies. Successful companies establish advantages through innovative design optimizing vehicle performance and efficiency, advanced engineering enhancing safety and functionality, manufacturing excellence ensuring quality and cost competitiveness, and increasingly software integration enabling smart vehicle capabilities in a sector where both product performance and brand perception drive customer decisions.
Vehicle & Transportation Equipment Making Industry Definition
Vehicle & Transportation Equipment Making produces systems for moving people and goods including automobiles, aircraft, ships, trains, and related components. Companies design and manufacture complex systems incorporating mechanical, electrical, and electronic technologies for safe, efficient transportation. Manufacturing processes include precision component fabrication, complex assembly operations, integration of multiple systems, extensive testing for safety and performance, and quality verification throughout production. These businesses create essential equipment for mobility and logistics. The industry represents one of the most capital-intensive manufacturing segments, continuously improving safety features, energy efficiency, emissions performance, and increasingly, integration of advanced driver assistance, autonomous capabilities, and alternative propulsion systems while developing enhanced materials, manufacturing techniques, and specialized designs that optimize transportation performance across diverse mobility applications.
NAICS Code: 336
Total # of Companies: 9,795
Total # of Factories / Facilities: 11,604
Industry Employees: 1,596,556
Market Size: $1127.3 billion
TARIFF IMPACT (Summer 2025 – Download Report for Updated Analysis)
This report has in-depth analysis on the recent US tariff changes on material costs, quantifying import dependencies, tariff exposure rates, and key source countries for the vehicle & transportation equipment making sector.
Estimated Tariff Cost: $83.2 billion
Relative Tariff Impact: SEVERE
Vehicle & Transportation Equipment Making Report Format
The 2026 U.S. Vehicle & Transportation Equipment Making Market Report is 63 pages of deep insights into the trends, dynamics, and forecasts shaping the industry. This market report is utilized by professionals to gain a in-depth understanding of the sector for business strategy, planning, forecasting, benchmarking, industry analysis, valuations, identifying organizational inefficiencies, financial analysis, and more.
This report covers more than 100 statistical data sets with historical trend data from 2017 to 2025, and 2026 and 2030 forecasts. The report includes sales & expense trends, detailed breakdown on 26 expenses, dozens of financial metrics, extensive forecasts, inventory trends & analysis, 31 balance sheet benchmarks, numerous industry segmentations, industry concentration analysis, material costs analysis, profitability analysis, state benchmarks, plant productivity benchmarks, employee role analysis, inflation statistics, compensation analysis, revenue per employee trends, and more.
Below are a few page images from the report and check out the table of contents for a complete overview.
Report Table of Contents
Evaluate the table of contents to understand the extensive statistical data sets in this report and why thousands of executives, consultants, bankers, accountants, and other professionals trust Kentley Insights for their market research needs.
The sources for the report data include federal and private surveys completed by the majority of companies in the sector covering extensive financial and operational topics for the vehicle & transportation equipment making industry. Our forecasts take into account historical trends, industry dynamics, and our macroeconomic projections.
1-2 – Report Overview & Table of Contents
3 – Market Overview
– Methodology, Industry Definition & Market Commentary
4 – Market Snapshot – Revenue & Growth
5 – Market Snapshot – Costs & Profitability
SECTION ONE
REVENUE & GROWTH BENCHMARKS
7 – Market Growth Details
– Revenues, Companies, & Facilities
– 2017-2025 Historical Figures
– Forecasts for 2026 and the Next 5 Years
8 – Growth Benchmarks
– Revenues per Company & Facility
– Facilities per Company
– 2017-2025 Historical Figures
– Forecasts for 2026 and the Next 5 Years
9 – Breakdown of Product Lines
– Percentage of Revenue from Product Lines
10 – BCG Matrix – Net Income vs. Revenue Growth
– Manufacturing Subsectors vs. Industry
11 – Total Revenue by Month & Year
– Revenue per Month for 2021-2025
12 – Inventory Value by Month & Year
– Inventory Value per Month for 2021-2025
13 – Months of Inventory
– Months of Inventory per Month for 2021-2025
14 – Market Size by Segments
– Concentration Segments – Top 4, 5-8, 9-20, & 21-50 companies
– Business Size Segments – 1-4, 5-9, 10-20, 21-50, 51-100, 101-250, & 250+ employees
– Business Structure Segments – C-Corporations, S-Corporations, Partnerships, & Sole Proprietorships
15 – Market Size by State
16 – Revenue as a % of State GDP
17 – Revenue as a % of State Manufacturing
18 – Market Segmentation by Business Size
– Sales as a % of Income and State Rankings
19 – Market Segmentation by Business Size
– Business Size Segments – 1-4, 5-9, 10-20, 21-50, 51-100, 101-250, & 250+ employees
– Companies, Facilities, Sales, Employees & Payroll
20 – Segmentation by Concentration (Top 50 Companies)
– Concentration Segments – Top 4, 5-8, 9-20, & 21-50 companies
– Companies, Facilities, Sales, Employees & Payroll
21 – Market Share of Top 50 Companies
– Market Share & Total Revenue for 2020 versus 2025
22 – Subsector Market Share of Top 50 Companies
23 – Segmentation by Business Structure
– Business Structure Segments – C-Corporations, S-Corporations, Partnerships, & Sole Proprietorships
– Companies, Facilities, Sales, Employees & Payroll
24 – Sales per Company by State
25 – Sales per Company by Segments
26 – Sales per Facility by State
27 – Sales per Facility by Segment
28 – Manufacturing Subsector Growth
– Sales and 5-Year CAGR
29 – Manufacturing Subsector Statistics
– Sales per Company & Facility, and 5-Year CAGR
30 – Consolidation Analysis
– 5-year CAGR of Companies & Locations
31 – Employment Consolidation Analysis
– 5-year CAGR of Employee Statistics
32 – Manufacturing Subsector Consolidation Analysis
– Number of Companies & Facilities
– 5-Year CAGR
33 – Manufacturing Subsector Consolidation Analysis
– Facilities per Company
– Employees per Company
– 5-Year CAGR
SECTION TWO
COST, CAPITAL & PROFIT BENCHMARKS
35 – Profitability & Financial Ratio Analysis
– Percent of Companies that are Profitable
– Average Net Income as a Percent of Revenue
– Financial Ratios – 10 ratios, Total Asset Turnover, Fixed Asset Turnover, Fixed Assets to Total Assets Ratio, Total Assets to Total Liabilities Ratio, Return on Sales, Return on Total Assets, Return on Net Worth, Total Liabilities to Net Worth Ratio, Fixed Assets to Net Worth Ratio, Solvency Ratio
Page 36 – Balance Sheet Metrics
– Assets and Liabilities indexed to industry revenue at 100
– Current & Non-Current Assets: Cash, Notes & Accounts Receivable, Allowance for Bad Debts, Inventories, Treasuries & Securities, Other Current Assets, Loans to Shareholders / Mortgage, Other Investments, Depreciable Assets, Accumulated Depreciation, Land, Intangible Assets (Amortizable), Accumulated Amortization, Other Assets
– Short-term, Long-term Liabilities, & Net Worth: Accounts Payable, Mortgages, Notes, Bonds due in less than 1 Yr., Other Current Liabilities, Loans from Shareholders, Mortgages, Notes, Bonds > 1 Yr., Other Liabilities, Capital Stock, Additional Paid-in Capital, Retained Earnings, Cost of Treasury Stock
37 – Operating Expenses
– Industry Operating Expenses
– Revenue vs. Operating Expense Growth
– Operating Expense as a Percent of Revenue
– Trend Analysis & Forecasts
38 – Operating Expenses by Company & Facility
– Operating Expenses per Company & Facility
– Revenue vs. Expenses Growth per Facility
– Trend Analysis & Forecasts
Page 39 – Operating Expense Detail
– Employee Expenses: Annual Payroll, Health insurance, Defined benefit pension plans, Defined contribution plans, Other fringe benefits, Temporary staff
– Cost of Materials: Cost of materials, parts, containers, packaging, etc., Cost of resale, Cost of electricity and fuels, Cost of contract work
– Buildings and Equipment: Capex for machinery and equipment, Rental or lease for machinery and equipment, Capex for buildings and structures, Rental or lease for buildings and structures, Repair and maintenance of buildings and machinery
– Other Operating Expenses: Professional and technical services, IT software and hardware, Data processing and communications, Advertising, Refuse removal, Taxes and license fees, All other operating expenses
-Inventory Breakdown: Inventory (as a % of total receipts), Finished goods inventory, Work-in-progress inventory, Materials and supplies inventory
40 – Production Material Costs & Tariff Analysis
– Top Production Material Costs Breakdown
– Industry & Material Tariff Analysis – % of costs, import %, tariff costs, source countries
41 – Producer Pricing Index
– Annual PPI – Indexed to 2006
– 2017-2025 Historical Figures
– Forecasts for 2026 and the Next 5 Years
– Monthly PPI Figures for the Past 4 Years
42 – Plant Utilization & Hours
– Plant Utilization Rate
– Plant Operational Hours per Week
– 2022-2025 Historical Figures by Quarter
43 – Reasons for Non-Full Production
– 7 Categories Quarterly Survey Results for Past 2 Years
44 – Productivity & Employment
– Revenue per Employee
– Total Industry Employees
– Employees per Company
– Trend Analysis & Forecasts
45 – Employee Productivity by Segments
46 – Employee Productivity by State
47 – Manufacturing Subsector Sales & Payroll per Employee
– Absolute & 5-year CAGR
48 – Payroll Analysis
– Payroll per Employee, Company & Facility
– Trend Analysis & Forecasts
49 – Payroll per Company by Segments
50 – Payroll per Facility by Segments
51 – Payroll per Employee by Segments
52 – Payroll per Employee by State
53 – Workforce Composition
– % of Employees for 27 Job Categories
– Management & Finance
– Sales & Marketing
– Technology, Engineering, Science
– Service, Support & Training
– Operations
54 – Job Categorization Pay Ranges
– Pay Bands – Bottom 10% & 25%, Mean, Top 25% & 10%
55 – Top 20 Jobs Breakdown
– Percent of Total Employees
56 – Top 20 Jobs Pay
57 – Employees per Company by Segments
58 – Employees per Facility by Segments
59 – Facilities per Company by Segments
60 – Total Employment by State
61 – Population to Every Employee by State
62 – Employees per Facility by State
63 – Overview of Kentley Insights
Download a Sample Report
Below is a free sample report download. The 2026 Vehicle & Transportation Equipment Making Market Report has the same layout and data sets as the sample report.
Product Lines, Materials, and Jobs Covered in Report
PRODUCT LINES
Motor vehicle manufacturing
Aerospace product and parts manufacturing
Motor vehicle parts manufacturing
Ship and boat building
Motor vehicle body and trailer manufacturing
Other transportation equipment manufacturing
MATERIAL COST CATEGORIES
Cost of all other materials and components, parts, containers, and supplies consumed
Materials, ingredients, containers, and supplies, nsk
Automotive stampings (including body parts, hubcaps, fenders, etc.)
Motor vehicle transmission and power train parts
Aircraft engines
Motor vehicle seating and interior trim
Motor vehicle gasoline engines and engine parts
Other engine equipment (including turbochargers, injection fuel pumps, machined engine blocks, etc.)
Aircraft engine parts (excluding instruments)
Motor vehicle electrical and electronic equipment
Other motor vehicle parts, including air systems, filters, exhaust, wheels, frames, bumpers, radiators, etc.
Misc. fabricated metal products (excluding hardware, containers, screw machine, bearing components, castings, forgings, and wire)
Structural landing gear, fuselage, empennage, and wing components including other structural components and engine mounts
Steel sheet, steel strip, and tin mill products
Guided missile and space vehicle engines, propulsion units, and parts
Glass and glass products
Plastics products (including packaging, foam products, film, sheet, rod, tube, fabricated shapes, bottles, etc.)
Shocks, struts, and other motor vehicle suspension equipment and parts
Semiconductors, including transistors, diodes, rectifiers, and integrated circuits for electronic circuitry, and related devices
Iron and steel castings
INDUSTRY JOBS ANALYZED
Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Workers
First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers
Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers
Industrial Engineers, Including Health and Safety
Machine Tool Cutting Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
Machinists
Laborers and Material Movers, Hand
Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers
Mechanical Engineers
Software Developers and Programmers
Industrial Machinery Installation, Repair, and Maintenance Workers
Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
Miscellaneous Production Workers
Computer Control Programmers and Operators
Engineering Technicians, Except Drafters
Engine and Other Machine Assemblers
Electrical, Electronics, and Electromechanical Assemblers
Painting Workers
Aerospace Engineers
Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks
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