Automotive OEM Coatings Market
Center, to be built in Philadelphia will support new technology
development for the global automotive business, and we are
constructing a new Technology center in Shanghai to support
businesses throughout the Asia-Pacific region.”
Chris Toomey, SVP, BASF Automotive Coatings Solutions,
North America, said that BASF sees growth in production in
most global markets.
“BASF coatings has seen growth both from the market and
through increased share. However, this is not a common picture
globally. For example, production in South America has been
reduced drastically,” he said.
BASF’s focus on high-growth regions include the recent
opening of a world-class resins facility in China.
“We continue to invest to support the growth of our business in all regions. There’s strong growth in North America with
significant investment by the OEMs. So, we’re expanding our
capacity there as well,” he said.
Ray Schappert, global director of product management,
Automotive Coatings, PPG, said that his company’s automotive
OEM coatings business continues to perform well.
“The automotive OEM industry growth rate improved sequentially year-over-year and our automotive OEM coatings
business continues to grow at a rate above the industry average,” he said.
PPG, he added, has benefited from being well-positioned in
China and other emerging regions, where it has taken advantage
of customers building new greenfield plants, and converting to
newer paint shop technologies.
“PPG’s position as a leader in many of these technologies has
allowed us to grow in high growth countries with some of the
most successful car makers.
“In addition to our technology, we have continued to localize production and services in China and emerging regions,”
Schappert added. “For example, our manufacturing facility in
Tianjin, China has become the largest volume paint plant in PPG
globally. And, we continue to expand paint and resin capacity in
China. Earlier this year, PPG marked the completion of a $20 million center for on-site electrocoat coatings blending at our resin
manufacturing facility in Zhangjiagang, China. In 2015, we announced the completion of investments in facilities in San Juan
del Rio, Mexico and Sumare, Sao Paulo, Brazil that allow us to
meet increased demand for automotive coatings in those regions.”
New Technologies and Trends
Automotive OEMs are looking for technologies that solve problems and differentiate their vehicles in the marketplace, said
Markevich of Axalta. Trends driving coatings technologies today, he added, include environmental regulations, the need for
productivity, overall outstanding appearance, and product attributes that consumers value such as durable trending colors
and effects.
Image Courtesy of Grand View Research
