Coatings World - November 2011

color- and coatings-oriented businesses. PPG’s global automotive OEM coatings business works closely with the company’s other businesses to gain insights related to coloring a wide range of products such as cell phones, laptop computers, large appliances, homes, buildings, airplanes, ships and heavy equipment.

“Color is one of the most basic means of human expression,” said Jane PPG presented automotive designers with 70 new exterior shades for consideration in their designs of the 2014-2015 model years. These included colors such as Goldeluxe, a silver with an influence of a gold; White Nougat, a soft creamy white with a highlight sparkle; Muddy Waters, a tone of brown with a pearl luster effect; Grape Spritz, a blue fused with a purple highlight; and Pot O’Gold, a light green with a hint of gold.

PPG also recently completed an online study of consumer opinions regarding the importance of coatings and color as they relate to new car purchases. Some key findings of the survey are:

At this year’s annual Automotive Color Trend Show, PPG presented its ideas for future vehicle colors titled “Expression.”

• 48 percent of the automotive consumers who responded said they generally choose products based on color;

• 77 percent of the automotive consumers said exterior color was a factor in their automotive purchase decision;

• Vehicle color is an important factor in the choice of vehicle, according to 30 percent of the automotive consumers;

• The same percentage—about 31 percent—of the automotive consumers said they are willing to pay extra for a vehicle that expresses their personality through color.

• Owners of large luxury cars, sporty cars and large premium
SUVs said they are willing to pay the most extra get the
color of their choice; and
• 40 percent of the automotive consumers said they would
prefer a wider range of color choices.

“Our consumer research has clearly shown that color is crit-
ically important to car buyers,” Harrington said. “It’s why we do
what we do. But more importantly, it’s why PPG puts so much
effort into researching, evaluating and understanding trends as
they relate to color.”
In addition to color trend forecasting, PPG is continuing to
develop new paint technologies that offer automotive design op-
tions to enhance appearance and help automobile manufacturers
differentiate their brands.