Red Spot
from the competition. Styling cues influenced by home interiors
have made their way into the interior of vehicles. Potential buyers look to their vehicles to express their personality as well as
give them access to all the comforts of home. From first time
buyers to the more discriminating buyer, all are looking for the
look and feel of high end finishes in every size of vehicle. Small
no longer means you have to settle for cheap finishes. Luxury
is expected at all levels to some degree. What does this mean for
future appearance options?
New appearance options include color, brilliance, coordination of materials and holistic development to create a cohesive interior environment.
Haptic experience describes the “feel” of materials use. A soft,
less rigid appearance and feel is made possible by a combination
of substrate and coatings.
New technologies include germ-fighting coatings, anti-glare
coatings, coating glazes that reduce the temperature, self-healing
coatings, in-cabin VOC reduction and chrome-like coatings.
Global manufacturing, sales, marketing, service and intelligence will be required to compete now as in the future. Design
and sourcing of vehicle interiors globally requires relationships
in all markets, including emerging markets, offering similar options supplied globally but with emphasis on regional preferences.
As we mentioned earlier, the “green” trend is and will continue to influence automotive coatings. Fewer VOCs eliminated into the environment and a smaller carbon footprint as
it relates to the manufacturing of the vehicle will be a strong
driver going forward, obviously. To meet newly toughened
CAFÉ requirements, vehicles will be forced to be smaller and
lighter. Lighter means new materials that will require new coating technology.
In mold coating will replace stand-alone spray painting applications in new areas, as we are seeing today. Cost is always a
challenge in anything related to the automotive industry.
As much cost pressure as the automotive OEMs experience,
they have actually been spending more money on the interior, as
this is definitely a differentiator for the customer. They have gone
to great lengths to eliminate the cheap plastic look and feel from
all but the low end cars and trucks, and it is the right decision,
per the focus groups and the buyers.
CW: What are the emerging markets and segments for your com-
pany’s auto OEM coatings business?
Red Spot: Red Spot’s emerging markets primarily include Asia
(China, Thailand, Korea, Vietnam), India, Brazil, Argentina and
Russia. We are expanding in two of these areas this year.
CW: Any new products to hit the market recently? What tech-
nologies are driving the market now and what can we expect
down the road in terms of automotive coatings technology?
Red Spot: New products tend to be either leading or lagging. Lag-
ging would be reacting to a new OEM performance specification,
while leading would be the introduction of a new product that
solves a problem they may not even know they have. This could
include cost, performance, decoration and application, to name a
few. As mentioned earlier, “green” technology will continue to
be needed and required. We all need to be good neighbors to each
other and the environment. Higher solids, lower VOCs and wa-
terborne coatings will continue to grow. Some OEMs, for exam-
ple, are looking at physical vapor deposition (PVD) as a chrome
look replacement for traditional electroplated nickel chrome plat-
ing. This PVD process requires a topcoat for protection (perfor-
mance) and a basecoat for a smooth surface prior to the metal
deposition (decoration). This is a very green alternative to chrome
plating and we think this will continue to grow. Red Spot is a
leader in this coating technology. CW
GM’s China sales pass US for first time
in history
General Motors says it sold more cars and trucks in China
last year than it did in the U.S. for the first time in its 102-
year history. The company sold 2.35 million vehicles in
China. That’s about 136,000 more than it sold in the U.S.
GM says sales in fast-growing China were up 28 percent,
but rose only 6. 3 percent in the U.S. GM’s sales were up 12
percent worldwide as it recovered from a 2009 bankruptcy.
Despite GM’s growth, Toyota held onto the title of world’s
largest automaker. The Japanese company reported 8. 42
million sales worldwide last year. That’s 30,000 more than
GM’s 8. 39 million. GM expects growth to continue. The automaker recently said it added a shift to a Flint, Michigan
truck plant to handle increased demand.
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