The Growing Demand for IATF 16949®

Worldwide, ISO/TS 16949 and IATF 16949® certifications have risen steadily from 2002 to 2025, reaching 102,449 sites as of September 2025. China holds roughly 60% of these certifications, driven by its policy mandating IATF 16949® compliance across the supply chain. This makes IATF 16949® one of the largest industry-specific QMS standards in the world.  The infographic above shows the number of certified sites by region and country with 500 or more certified sites.  

Top 10 Countries by Certification Volume:

1. China – 60,126
2. India – 7,541
3. Republic of Korea – 5,329
4. United States – 3,664
5. Germany – 2,731
6. Mexico – 2,282
7. Thailand – 2,017
8. Japan – 1,914
9. Taiwan – 1,591
10. Italy – 1,589

The chart below illustrates the year-by-year increase in the number of IATF 16949® certified sites (beginning with ISO/TS 16949) with just 374 sites in 2002 to more than 100,000 in 2025.

Some of the reasons why IATF 16949® certifications have grown steadily over the years:

• Customer-specific requirement for supplier to be IATF 16949® certified.
• IATF 16949® requirements 8.4.1.2 and 8.4.2.3 state that supply chain risks dictate an internal plan for suppliers to be certified to IATF 16949®, or work toward IATF 16949® compliance and ultimately certification.
• Companies are recognizing the value of being IATF 16949® certified. See some of the benefits.

So why do these stats matter to your company?

• IATF 16949® is a requirement to be a supplier to the car and truck makers (OEM’s) around the world. These include General Motors, Ford, Geely, Stellantis, BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen, Jaguar Land Rover, Renault, Volvo, and many heavy truck manufacturers.
• IATF certification demonstrates that a supplier can provide high-quality products with no defects and inspires trust that they will deliver what is promised.
• The OEMs and higher Tiers have seen that suppliers who are certified have fewer quality escapes, fewer recalls, and have less problems than those suppliers who are not certified.
• The IATF 16949® standard (clause 8.4.2.3) requires plans for the supply chain to be working toward IATF 16949® compliance and ultimately certification.
• At a minimum, suppliers must be at least ISO 9001 certified, working toward IATF® compliance.

Learn more about the evolution of IATF 16949®.

IATF® Experts a Click Away

If you’re searching for an IATF 16949:2016 consultant, our team at simpleQuE is well-positioned to support your IATF 16949®  and MAQMSR consulting (Minimum Automotive Quality Management System Requirements), certification, maintenance, training, and internal auditing needs. Our consultants are qualified, certified, competent, and are experts on the automotive standards, customer-specific requirements, and AIAG or VDA core tools. In addition, many are current or former 3rd party auditors who bring valuable insight because of the knowledge gained from auditing for certification bodies.

SimpleQuE also offers a full line-up of IATF 16949® training courses which includes AIAG and VDA Core Tools, Root Cause Analysis and Problem Solving, Requirements and Implementation.  With IATF® also putting a major focus on internal auditor competency, it is essential to have IATF 16949® Internal Auditor Training which utilizes the process audit approach. Contact us to learn more about the customized services offered to match your certification and training needs.

SimpleQuE is not associated with the IATF®, IAOB, ANAB®, IAQG®, and is not a certification body. SimpleQuE is an independent consulting, training, and second-party auditing service provider that assists a company on a path for the company to obtain and maintain certification through accredited certification bodies.