Fresh Paint
provide a solution to corrosion under
insulation (CUI), while offering excellent
weathering capabilities and perform-
ance attributes that are not typically
found in other types of insulation.
SHAWCOR ACQUIRES
THERMOTITE BRASIL
ShawCor Ltd. announced its Bredero
Shaw division has completed the acqui-
sition of the remaining 50 percent inter-
est in Thermotite Brasil Ltda. and BS
Servicios de Injeção that it did not pre-
viously own. The purchase price is $37.9
million. Since 2006, Bredero Shaw has
been a partner in this joint venture in
the offshore thermal insulation market
in Brazil. The venture has a strategical-
ly located facility, which provides anti-
corrosion and advanced insulation coat-
ings for offshore applications. Bredero
Shaw anticipates that the demand for
these products will increase as Brazil
invests heavily in offshore oil and gas
developments.
ZIRCOTEC CARBON COMPOSITE
WINS TECHNOLOGY AWARD
A coating that enables engineers to spec-
ify lighter weight carbon composite
materials for harsh applications in ardu-
ous environments has won the presti-
gious 2010 Plastic Industry Best
Technology Application of the Year
Award. Zircotec’s plasma-sprayed zirco-
nia-based coating protects composites
from the effects of heat and abrasion in
tough operating environments, opening
up a new stream of materials to design-
ers that offer performance with a weight
advantage. Branded ThermoHold for
Composites, the Zircotec coating is being
successfully used in Formula 1 this year
Silver Reaches New Height of Popularity on Vehicles
PPG introduces 66 new shades at annual Automotive Color Trend Show.
For the tenth consecutive year, silver has ranked as the most popular vehicle color in the world according to data from PPG, the world’s
leading manufacturer of transportation coatings. In
fact, silver’s popularity is the highest its been since
1990 when PPG began recording its data.
In North America, the silver, grey and charcoal
category saw a dramatic rise in popularity to 31
percent this year. The color accounted for 25 percent in 2009 and 20 percent in 2008.
Black and white were tied for second ( 18 percent).
Red was third (11 percent), blue was fourth, ( 10 percent), naturals, like browns, tans, golds, oranges and
yellows, were fifth (eight percent) and green was last
(four percent.) Just 16 years ago, the most popular
color on vehicles in North America was green with 21 percent, while silver had only eight percent in 1994.
“There’s clearly been a significant strengthening of silver’s popularity in recent years,” said Jane E.
Harrington, PPG manager, color styling, automotive coatings. “And, with more than two-thirds of cars in North
America being black, silver or white, one might be inclined to believe that vibrant colors don’t exist in automo-
biles anymore. But that’s not true. The fact is that these shades continue to evolve. New advances in pigments
and technologies are giving today’s vehicles different textural appearances and iridescent sparkle.”
In Europe, silver and charcoal ( 32 percent) were followed by black ( 24 percent), white ( 20 percent), blue ( 10
percent), red (nine percent), naturals (five percent), green (one percent) and other/niche colors (one percent).
In the Asia/Pacific region, silver and charcoal ( 33 percent) were followed by white ( 21 percent), black ( 19 percent), red
(continued on the next page)
PPG presented automotive designers with 66 new exterior shades
and five new interior shades for consideration for 2013-2014
model year vehicles at its 2010 Automotive Trend Color Show.
