Coatings World - March 2009

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Describe PPG’s strategy for navigating these turbulent times?

PPG has taken aggressive action to cut our overhead costs to align ourselves with the new global reality for the next several years. But, at the same time, we are continuing to invest in the future, investing in new green technologies and new processes to reduce costs for PPG and for our customers. We will also continue to monitor the health of our supply base, since they have not been immune from this downturn either.

What is your outlook for continued growth in automotive segment in the coming years, and how will PPG play a role in helping that growth? What are your predictions for the automotive OEM coatings market in the short-, mid- and long-terms?

Although predictions are that auto sales will be down substantially this year, there will still be close to 60 million cars produced globally, all of which require paint. Although I am hopeful that we will see some recovery in 2010, we are managing our business as if that recovery won’t happen until 2011. We do have the good fortune to be well positioned in regions of the world which are expected to experience higher growth, such as China, so PPG expects growth higher than most U.S. dependent automotive suppliers. Plus, we have developed new products, such as our AudioGuard acoustic coating, which increases our value and content per vehicle, providing us with new venues for growth.

What is PPG’s growth strategy in the automotive OEM segment? Where is this growth being focused and what can we expect moving forward? What can we expect coming down the R&D pipeline from PPG?

ings products and services to the automotive OEMs. Currently we are the only supplier with a full range of products and services that can offer a total system solution for OEM paint shop needs around the world. Going forward we will continue to support this strategy offering coatings products and services for both OEM and Tier 1 suppliers globally. Some areas of development for PPG include products that remove weight from the vehicle, such as lightweight sealers, and products that are focused on reducing steps in paint process, such as our new Zircobond pretreatment. You can expect to see some exciting new things from us in the next few years.

In addition to the bad economy, what are the other key trends and challenges manufacturers of automotive OEM coatings face now and in the years ahead?

There are many exciting changes occurring in the OEM coatings market. Our customers are very focused on cutting time and cost out of their processes, and PPG has developed new technologies and approaches to help them with this. One new method that our customers are increasingly using is the “compact process,” or process that removes steps and layers from the coating system without reducing performance or functionality. We are also helping our customers continue to differentiate their products through new color technologies. Our key challenge is continuing to invest in these new process developments and products, while at the same time managing our development costs and resources.