Auto Refinish
TheAutoRefinishMarket
The auto refinish market remains flat in North America, but improving standards of living
in developing countries are leading to an increase in cars in Asia and South America.
by Kerry Pianoforte, Associate Editor
The auto refinish market continues to perform sluggishly in mature markets like North America. However, growing affluence and an increase in car ownership in emerging
regions, has given the auto refinish market a much-needed boost.
“The market is flat to declining in North America while grow-
ing in developing regions like Asia and South America,” said Vic-
toria Manea, market development manager, dispersions and
pigments, North America, BASF. “In these latter regions, the
higher consumer spending power and standards of living have
led to an increase in car ownership which, combined with poor
quality roads and frequent traffic accidents, are causing a boost
in the refinish market.”
“Ever since the financial crisis of 2008, we’ve been confronted
with a challenging market for our business and we expect it to
remain pretty flat for the foreseeable future,” said Kerstin Stran-
imaier, marketing director, AkzoNobel. “When we look at indi-
vidual markets, there are however plenty of opportunities. No
one is going to complain about safer cars and fewer accidents,
but those positive developments do of course affect our business,
especially in our more established markets like Western Europe
and North America. Still, China, even with somewhat slower
growth in the last six months or so, remains a rapidly growing
market, India is showing great promise, South America is grow-
ing, and we also see strong growth in Eastern Europe.”
Strainimaier reported that there has been huge growth in the
“mid-market” – billions of people emerging from poverty and
seeking to join the middle class. “That’s where most of the
growth in the developing world is coming from, and that is going
to remain a fact of life for the next 30 or 40 years,” she added.
“We estimate that 3 to 4 billion people will become active con-
sumers over that period of time, and so we’ve got to tailor our
products to meet the demands of that huge emerging market.
Many of our own products are aimed more at the higher end, so
for us, a challenge is to deliver the kind of quality and perform-
ance which has been our strength, but at a price that is afford-
able to these new consumers.”
According to David Brunori, executive vice president and gen-
eral manager at Matrix System Automotive Finishes, the economy
and distribution consolidation continue to drive declining to flat
markets in the NAFTA and EU regions. “However, these condi-
tions have strengthened the position for value paint lines,” he
added. “A growing demand for Tier 2 paint lines will continue to
be a factor in the NAFTA and EU regions for years to come and
www.coatingsworld.com
October 2012
