The Auto Refinish Market
Latin American region. Rising incomes and economic stability
are leading to more car registrations and an increasing percent-
age of cars being fully insured. We see a similar trend in India
where the industry has experienced continual market growth
that is beginning to accelerate at a higher rate.”
“There’s also positive growth in China, however the govern-
ment’s concern for VOC emissions will be limiting miles driven,
given new regulations limiting the numbers of cars that can be
driven on any given day,” he added. “On the flip side we’re see-
ing flat to slight growth in Western Europe and New Zealand.”
PPG foresees that over the next five years, overall average
growth will increase from its current rate of approximately 1.7
percent to somewhere around 2.2 percent.
Trends and Issues
Consolidation will continue to be a key trend in the auto re-
finish market. “We expect consolidation to continue in the
distribution channel and shop environment, creating both op-
portunity and disruption for manufacturers, distributors, MSOs
and bodyshops alike,” Toomey said. “This trend leads to greater
efficiency in the markets and creates an environment where scale
and reliability are key to staying competitive. BASF is actively
expanding distribution to enhance our customers’ access to ser-
vice support and the high quality products they trust.”
In the mid-term, Toomey anticipates further development of
complex substrates that will require new product innovation
as the OEMs push toward lighter weight vehicles and greater
MPGs. “Over the longer term, the market will be challenged
by the increase in automation and digital innovations beyond
our current scope of imagination,” he added. “There will be a
significant impact on demand from the continued automation of
cars and the trend towards autonomous vehicles.”
Legislation governing VOC emissions continues to be a major
trend in automotive refinishing. “It’s long been a factor in ma-
ture markets like North America and Western Europe, but in ad-
dition to China’s heightened concern, other ROW countries are
increasingly becoming active in this area,” said Denise Lu, PPG
global marketing director, Refinish. “PPG is continually field-
ing queries from customers in non-legislated countries on our
waterborne technology, reflecting their increased concerns for
health, safety and the environment. Now, while VOC-compliant
products were once perceived by many customers as delivering
lower performance than conventional technologies, this issue is
much less of a concern today given the excellent performance
of waterborne. As a result, sales of PPG’s waterborne basecoat
systems are increasing significantly in many countries around
the world where stricter VOC legislation is not in effect. To date
more than 30,000 collision centers worldwide have transitioned
to our waterborne systems, with a substantial number not yet
governed by stricter VOC legislation.”
The introduction of accident avoidance features in passenger
cars, such as forward collision alarms and lane departure warn-
ings, will also have an impact on the accident rate in the coming
years. “Moving into the future, the evolution of transportation
options will also have an effect,” said Lu. “Autonomous vehicles
and car sharing are just a few trends that, while not mainstream
now, will become much more common in the not too distant
future. We are also seeing increased investment in conventional
public transportation infrastructure in countries such as Spain,
China and South Korea, which will provide increased alterna-
tives to transporting by passenger car.”
To stay competitive in mature markets such as North
America and Europe, collision centers continue to seek ways
to improve on their overall cycle time performance, which ulti-
mately includes cycle time in the paint booth. “It’s a trend that
will continue to influence PPG’s focus on developing innova-
tion in refinish products that can do their job faster without
sacrificing performance,” said Lu. “This trend also supports
continued focus on helping our customers employ continuous
improvement methodologies throughout their operation, from
front door to back.”
Auto refinish customers are looking for a variety of performance characteristics. “Larger MSOs tend to focus on efficiency
and cost optimization as well as support in training to facilitate
shop performance,” Toomey said. “In other segments, we are
seeing the need for enhanced shop automation solutions and
Photo courtesy of BASF.
Photo courtesy of BASF.
