Auto OEM Coatings
Lower costs, reduced air pollution and better performance are key drivers in automotive
coatings and suppliers like BASF continue to offer new technologies and new products for
the automotive industry.
by Tim Wright, Editor
The state of the automotive OEM coatings market is improving. The global market for automotive paint
was $10 billion in 2011, according to the
Southern Pines, N.C.-based consultancy
Chemark Consulting. The market grew
from $9.3 billion the previous year. North
America was the largest regional market
worth $2.62 billion in 2011 while all regions experienced positive growth compared to 2010.
“OEM car manufacturers are building
more vehicles, and as production increases
this ultimately helps OEM paint produc-
ers,” said Stacey Russell, marketing com-
munication manager, BASF. “When the in-
dustry looks at the seasonally adjusted
annual rates (SAARs) and sees that it is
improving it helps to build confidence.
While Europe’s economy is struggling,
with less increase in automotive produc-
tion, Asia is in a growth mode, particu-
larly in China.”
Part of the Functional Solutions busi-
ness segment, BASF’s coatings division is
one of the world’s top suppliers of coat-
ings for automotive and industrial appli-
cations. The division, which also includes
the sale of its Relius brand of decorative
paints, reported sales of €2.8 billion ($3.7
billion) in 2011, an increase of $223 mil-
The company attributed a part of this
growth to the favorable market environment in the global automotive coatings industry, where it served increased demand
from customers in Europe and Asia, especially China.
For 2012 BASF said it is looking for its
coatings sales to grow in part to growing
demand from the global automotive industry as paint sales rely heavily on automobile production.
“By 2020 there will be approximately
1.2 billion cars on the road worldwide, an
increase of nearly 300 million compared
to 2012,” she said. “Global population
growth, rising standards of living in
