Sales of new cars globally will increase from around 62.5 million units in 2015 to more than 73 million units by the end of 2020, representing a compound annual growth rate of 3.2 percent, according to data from research company MarketLine.

The company’s latest report states that this steady rise can be attributed to the improving performance of the European market, which is offsetting slow growth in the large markets of Asia-Pacific (APAC) and the United States. The recent slowdown in Brazil and Russia, as well as slower growth in China may cause a short period of turmoil in the automotive industry, according to MarketLine.

Another factor to affect the new cars market will be the very unstable prices of crude oil and fuels. Although the extent to which this will impact the market is quite difficult to predict, the research firm anticipates that a substantial period of cheaper fuel prices may result in higher sales numbers that will trigger greater production. It is expected that the production of cars will increase by approximately 11 million units from 2015 to 2020.

In terms of products, the automotive industry is expected to alter quite significantly over the next few years. Car manufacturers are planning their growth and development on the basis of new technologies for intelligent and autonomous vehicles.

Mieszko Blitek, analyst for Marketline, explained, “Even in developing countries, customers expect increasingly advanced technology to be installed in their cars. This is directly related to lower production costs and features like on-board trip computers or Bluetooth connectivity becoming standard vehicle equipment.”

The main driving force behind the global sales of passenger cars remains the Chinese market, followed by the United States and, to a lesser extent, Europe and Japan, according to MarketLine. The firm says it expects that developing countries will be responsible for 90 percent of global market growth in the forthcoming decade, led by the APAC region.