Coatings World - October 2013

Auto Refinish Market
October 2013 www.coatingsworld.com Coatings World | 43

performance over this variety of substrates.”
Stranimeier explained that in terms of new tech-
nologies, AkzoNobel strives to make smarter coatings.

“By that, I mean that we’re not expecting coat-
ings that change color on command, or that gener-
ate their own energy, or that are 100 percent scratch
resistant any time soon,” she said. “But we’ve al-
ready got self-healing coatings and we’ll continue
to improve that sort of functionality, and some of
the colors and effects that we achieve right now are
almost magical. We did some amazing colors for
the McLaren MP4-12C supercar that seem to have
depth and an inner light, so that’s an example.”
In terms of new products, PPG continues to ad-
vance the availability of a total waterborne refinish
system with the launch of two new waterborne primer
surfacers. Envirobase High Performance EPW115
Waterborne Speed Prime and Aquabase Plus P950-
5505 Waterborne Primer Surfacer are designed to
further reduce the cycle time performance of PPG wa-
terborne systems, while providing excellent adhesion
and reducing solvent emissions in the workplace.

Axalta Coatings Systems offers a number of products for the automotive refinish market. The company’s flagship brands include Stnadox, Spies Hecker and Cromax( formerly DuPont Refinish). Axalta Coating Systems recently announced Cromax as the new brand name for DuPont Refinish, a leading global brand of automotive refinish systems. The Cromax family of brands promises improved productivity, backed by products engineered for easy, quick and accurate application, according to the firm.

Cromax includes all of the product lines that are part of the DuPont Refinish franchise today such as Cromax Pro, Chroma Premier, ChromaBase and Centari.

Spies Hecker has introduced Permasolid Spectro Sealer 5450, a premium 2K high solid system that can be used as a wet-on-wet sealer, underhood color or as a flexible sealer for plastic repairs. Fast and easy to apply, this low VOC sealer delivers excellent coverage and a smooth finish, according to the company.

Designed for use with all Spies Hecker basecoats, Permasolid Spectro Sealer 5450 can help increase productivity and profitability. Spraying requires 1.5 coats with no flash-off time between coats.

Permasolid Spectro Sealer 5450 is currently available in black and white. Red, blue, green and yellow will be available in 2013. All colors can be mixed together to get an unlimited number of colors, including shades of gray.

PPG also recently launched D8115 matte and D8117 semi-gloss clearcoats as a system for creating a wide range of low-gloss finish levels.

BASF recently launched the Onyx HD Low VOC productive system, which produces low VOC basecoats that are either waterborne or solvent-borne.

AkzoNobel latest product innovation is an upgrade to the waterborne system in their premium Sikkens line. Autowave 20 is a refined version of Sikkens Autowave.

“The new version improves performance, color accuracy as color result is more robust towards application circumstances, better appearance in combination with clear coats and ease of use (sprayability and blending), and importantly, it also speeds process time, something our end users in bodyshops always welcome,” said Stranimaier.

AkzoNobel has also made major organizational development with the integration of their Specialty Paints business into Specialty Finishes, which provides coatings for difficult to apply plastic substrates for interior and exterior automotive coatings.

“The other development to mention is the progress we’ve
made on our huge manufacturing site in Changzhou, China,”
Stranimaier said. “Construction has proceeded pretty much on
schedule, so we are still looking forward to moving in and start-
ing up production next year. “
PPG recently opened an automated color-matching labora-
tory in Cleveland capable of running 24/7, doubling the number
of color matches PPG was capable of producing annually. CW