Coatings World - March 2016

Automotive OEM Coatings Market

significant savings and conservation goals. The company’s ZIRCOBOND pretreatment cuts water use, waste and energy costs - it can save the average North American assembly plant 16 million gallons of water annually. PPG’s Enviro-Prime 7000 hyper-throwpower electrocoat also can save on average 30% of the electricity and water used in the typical electrocoat process.” Schappert added that, as automakers continue to look for innovative ways to enhance fuel efficiency, PPG’s products help customers make lightweight vehicles that meet environmental requirements.

“OEMs are using more lightweight metals for auto bodies and auto body components. PPG works in partnership with our customers to offer solutions that allow their paint shops to adapt to this more complex environment, while ensuring continued quality and colorful finishes. Projects include new pretreatment chemistries that allow the utilization of greater amounts of aluminum on the vehicle. In addition new adhesive technologies are being developed that allow the joining of the new lightweight substrates such as aluminum and carbon fiber reinforced plastics,” he said.

Research conducted by PPG found that nearly 60 percent of consumers identified color as a major factor in their vehicle-buying decisions, and automakers continue to sell a vast majority of cars (nearly 75 percent) in conservative colors such as white, black, gray and silver. According to PPG’s global build data, white was the most popular color (up 7 percent from last year to 35 percent), followed by black ( 17 percent) and silver ( 12 percent).

Regional trend highlights from the 2015 data include:
• In North America, white remains most popular ( 23 per-
cent), followed by black ( 19 percent), gray ( 17 percent),
silver ( 15 percent), red ( 10 percent) and blue ( 8 percent).

• In South America, white leads in popularity ( 36 percent), followed by silver ( 31 percent), black ( 11 percent), gray and red (tied at 9 percent each), and blue (2.5 percent).

• In Europe, white remains most popular ( 31 percent), followed by black ( 18 percent), gray ( 16 percent), silver ( 12 percent) and blue ( 9 percent).

• In Asia Pacific markets, white remains most popular ( 44 percent), followed by black ( 16 percent), natural and silver (tied at 10 percent each), and gray ( 7 percent).

In research that PPG conducted among consumers in the U.S. and Europe, three in five respondents ( 59 percent) said color was a major factor in their vehicle-buying decisions. In fact, more than half of respondents said that if the color they wanted was not available on the lot, they would wait for it to become available before finalizing their purchase instead of purchasing a vehicle in a second-choice color.

PPG’s research also indicated that metallic colors are more popular among men, while women show a preference for solid, single-color non-metallic-looking gloss finishes and pearlescent/ colored sparkle effects.

Furthermore, PPG found that automotive color and appearance are especially important among style-conscious male consumers ages 18-39, with respondents saying that they want a vehicle to exude an image of success and in many cases would be willing to pay more to own a vehicle that adequately reflects their personality.