In order to meet rigorous combustion engine emission standards, reduction of vehicle weight for minimum fuel consumption has become a major trend in automobile industry. Thermal spraying technology has found its way in depositing a layer of antiwear, wearproof and corrosion resistant coating on the inner wall of aluminum alloy or cast iron cylinder instead of using traditional cast iron cylinder liner. Fabrication process of the inner wall coating for cylinder liner was introduced first, such process principles of depositing coatings on the inner wall as high-velocity oxy-fuel spraying, arc spraying, atmospheric plasma spraying and plasma transferred wire arc spraying were mainly discussed. The different thermal spray processes were reviewed and characteristics of corresponding coatings were compared. Based on the application examples of advanced thermal sprayed coatings fabricated by domestic and foreign vehicle manufacturers, the advantages and disadvantages of various inner wall coatings were analyzed. Finally, it was proposed that the research direction of the cylinder coatings covered optimization of spraying parameters, development of new spraying materials, control of coating internal stress and response to future biofuel.