Coatings World - August 2014

demand is particularly pronounced in our diverse effect pigment
lines area where OEMs seek to differentiate their vehicles with
new styling’s. As paints with increased use of effects reach the
refinish market we anticipate increased demand there as well.”
As China continues to lead the world in auto production, it
has emerged as a major consumer of these types of pigments.
“China’s emergence as the largest automotive market, along
with other Asian Pacific growth, has driven increased re-
gional paint production,” Crosby said. “BASF is meeting the
needs of our regional and global customers with additional
investments in the Asian Pacific region including investments
in China and Korea.“
The emerging markets, China, India and Eastern Europe, are
still the markets where per capita gross domestic product is the
fastest growing.

“The demand for durable goods, buildings and automotive
needs will continue the surge in the sales of special effect and
high performance pigments,” Heitzman said.” Sun Chemical and
its parent company, DIC, have a strong manufacturing, techni-
cal support, sales, and distribution presence in China. We have
the capability to supply pigments to global, multi-national and
local Chinese coatings customers. Our new logistics platform
furthers our commitment to growth in the region.”
Raw materials are increasing, which does create problems
for some companies.

BASF makes every effort to avoid passing along increased
raw material prices with improved operational efficiency and
capacity utilization.
“We welcome the opportunity to work with customers to
find ways to mitigate the impact where possible,” Crosby said.

It’s difficult to insulate customers from the rise of raw material costs in today’s volatile global economy.

“Our supply teams monitor the raw material indexes and
guide our manufacturing team on process and raw material pro-
ductivity,” Heitzman said. “We have collaborative sourcing and
supply personnel in our facilities around the world. The global
reach of Sun Chemical has proven to provide the flexibility and
stability to minimize the impact on raw material increases.”
Although HPP and special effect pigments are higher in cost,
the performance and visual appeal they offer is well worth the
investment. “An investment in high performance pigments can
yield more in return for our customers than standard pigments,”
Heitzman said. “High performance pigments make products
that are more appealing to consumers, help businesses become
more competitive, grow sales and improve margins.

From a technical standpoint, the most important property

BASF Designers Present Automotive Color Trends

The designers at BASF’s Coatings division have published their automotive color trends for 2014/2015. With their collection entitled “Under the Radar,” new color ranges are appearing on the trend radar. The development of special effects is setting new accents and opening up unusual color ranges. BASF’s designers are predicting that this will make automotive colors more complex and more individual in the future. This ability to stand out from the crowd caters to the consumers’ desires, since the topic of individualization is playing an increasingly important role, especially when buying a car.

Special effects ensure dynamics and complexity

The designers observe a social change moving from luxury to a heightened awareness of quality and values. For automotive colors, this means that what counts is not attention-grabbing, but rather the “wow”-effect at second glance.

Innovative special effects create these ac-
cents. For instance, the new collection
contains the newly developed XSpark
special-effect coating. XSpark contains
very fine glass particles that reflect the
light, thus creating a distinctive sparkle
that is particularly effective only in light.

“XSpark opens up brand new opportunities for translating new values and a new quality awareness into automotive color,” said BASF color designer Florina Trost.

Thanks to a targeted special effect, classic colors like blue or silver develop a completely individual color behavior. Thereby, they visually reinforce the car bodies’ geometry and vitalize their broad surfaces with brilliant sparkle (XSpark).

Mark Gutjahr, head of Design BASF Europe, explained the significance of special-effect coatings: “For years, the differences have basically only been between solid, pearl-effect and metallic.

Now, we are starting to see some move-
ment in this area. The targeted interac-
tion between color and special effects is
making automotive colors more complex
and multifaceted. This development will
also continue to accompany us for a few
years. We haven’t yet exhausted the po-
tential in the special-effect palette.”

Strong colors demonstrate individuality The extraordinary color positions in the new collection are also determining the trend toward more individuality. “Bold colors like red will shape our image of individual mobility,” Gutjahr said. The growing share of powerful reds can already be seen on the roads. According to the designers, as red develops over the coming years, it will also continue to move in the range of strong, dark purples. The potential of green will continue to be visible in a wide range of nuances, from intensive turquoise to sparkling moss green.

“The trend toward individuality has therefore developed further. It’s not only about delimiting and differentiating yourself. Instead, it is becoming increasingly important to communicate a certain attitude, and this opens up new color spaces and lends more weight to the topic of color,” said Astrid Van der Auwera from BASF’s global design team, summarizing the trend.