Automotive OEM Coatings
March 2014 www.coatingsworld.com Coatings World | 61
“Global auto builds are up 18 percent since 2010, and
North America has recovered quickly over the last two to three
years with production up 36 percent since 2010,” said Mike
Millar, PPG manager of strategic marketing, automotive OEM
coatings. “The U.S. is expected to sell 15 million units in 2014.
Also in 2014, PPG expects vehicle production growth of four
percent in North America and two percent in South America,
continued growth to remain sluggish. Overall, we expect steady
global growth in the three to four percent range.”
Markevich said he expects that 2014 will see growth glob-
ally in automotive production in the three to four percent range
based on economic forecasts, and expects to be able to gain
new business accordingly.
“We are watching the market in South America closely due
to economic and political volatility in a number of countries
including the large market of Brazil and some of the smaller
yet important markets of Argentina and Venezuela,” Markevich
added. “But long-term prospects in South America are good
and our optimism is reflected by our recent announcement that
we are moving forward with the third phase of our $32 million
waterborne capacity expansion in Brazil.”
Markevich also said there are signs of optimism as well for
the mature European market, which has previously not yet seen
the recovery enjoyed by North America.
“While it may be slower, this market may be on the way
to a recovery and we are confident that we are prepared to
meet any increases in demand,” he explained. “North America
ended 2013 strongly. Going into 2014, the severe weather has
impacted both production and demand. However, the mar-
ket seems back on track to pre-recession trends. Overall, we
expect 2014 to be another strong year for OEM coatings in
North America.”
China continues to lead the growth in Asia and Axalta ex-
pects 2014 will be another record year for demand. “We just
broke ground to expand Axalta’s waterborne production ca-
pacity in Jiading – in the Shanghai area – to supply new OEM
manufacturing plants in China’s southern and western regions,”
Markevich said.
Geographically, Axalta has been growing in emerging South
American, Asian markets and China in particular. Not only are
these markets growing, but Axalta is also supplying modern
coatings,which provide industry leading performance and lowest environmental impact.
BASF also noted that it sees growth opportunities in the
BRIC countries, particularly in China. “This growth in China
is fueled by investments in integrated processes – and BASF is
a pioneer in integrated processes,” said Alex Shimazaki, vice
president - global accounts, BASF Coatings North America.
In order to support its global automotive OEM custom-
ers, PPG has invested in multiple emerging regions in recent
years. “We added a new waterborne-coatings manufacturing
cell and a resin manufacturing operation in China; expanded
the production capacity of our joint venture plant with Asian
Paints in India; added an automotive-focused manufacturing
cell in Bangplee, Thailand; and are building a coatings plant to
expand our presence in Russia,” said Millar. “We also recently
began investing to add a new resin reactor in Sumaré, Brazil.
These actions support global OEMs that are moving into these
rapidly growing regions.”
In addition to making these capital investments, PPG also
has invested in expanding the capabilities of its regional organizations. “We are committed to ensuring that our organization
is fully capable of providing the world-class products, service
and support that our global customers expect, no matter where
in the world they build vehicles,” said Millar.
Sustainability
Reducing environmental footprints and developing environmental responsible products are two key issues for auto OEM
coatings manufacturers.
“The trend towards lightweighting will continue, providing
a challenge to coatings manufacturers around performance over
new substrates,” said Schmondiuk. “Automakers are also con-
tinuing to look for improved efficiency in the coatings process
so products that allow them to lower energy costs or shrink the
footprint of the paint shop are most important. That is why we
are seeing the proliferation of coatings that eliminate an oven
or a part of the spray process. This trend will continue.”
“Sustainable coating products enable OEMs to improve
both the efficiency of their operation and the quality of their
vehicles,” said Millar. “The OEMs are under pressure to meet
ever more stringent requirements for emissions and fuel effi-
ciency, and both vehicles and production facilities need to meet
stricter environmental regulations.”
“Coatings suppliers have stepped up to these challenges by
offering advanced coatings systems that reduce material usage,
improve throughput and reduce environmental footprint,” he
continued. “Some of these coatings technologies include hy-
perthrow electrocoat primers and compact-process decorative
paints. These technologies allow OEMs to improve their sus-
tainability through footprint and energy-usage reductions, and
to increase their vehicle quality and performance, while lower-
ing overall production costs.”
The OEM paint shop has a significant impact in terms of
capital, labor, utilities and the environmental footprint of the
overall vehicle manufacturing process. Axalta is supporting
wet- on- wet coating systems and coating layers that can pro-
vide multiple attributes in one step that shorten the painting
process for both new and refurbished plants.
To meet regulations on auto fuel economy and CO2 footprint, automakers are increasingly using lighter weight materials such as aluminum and composites. “We’re developing
coating systems that can protect and decorate these new materials to produce a finished vehicle that meets customer, performance and efficiency expectations,” said Marcevich. “Coatings
systems need to meet changing environmental trends such as
REACH and TSCA ingredient regulation, and reduction of
