The Auto Refinish Market
October 2016 www.coatingsworld.com Coatings World | 47
value-added services being requested from the manufacturers. BASF provides a variety of business services, which support customers in optimizing their bodyshops. Our professional
sales team is in constant exchange with our customers to find
solutions which match their individual needs – from training
to technical support. We’ve grown our Advanced Bodyshop
Solutions efficiency program and expanded our iCAR certified
course offerings in the U.S., to name two examples.
“In EMEA, the market players – the fleet and lease operators,
insurance companies – expect national and regional coverage to
enable repair work to be successfully guided into networks, and
for that work to achieve the required quality and process standards the market players have defined. In order to satisfy this
need for geographic coverage, Axalta places repair networks
under one umbrella in some countries,” said Matthew Winokur,
vice president of Corporate Affairs for Axalta Coating Systems.
“The insurance industry continues to gain more importance
and influence in Latin America as well,” Winokur stated. “For
example, in Mexico car insurance companies are seeking shorter
cycle times. The introduction of new, bright colors in the industry in the last few years has been a concern to the refinish
market, therefore they’ll require better systems that not only
meet their needs but also exceed them. Axalta products portfolio offers solutions and color tools such as Acquire Plus EFX to
satisfy these market needs.”
New Technologies and Products
Auto refinish customers are looking for new products and technologies that will reduce cycle time and increase efficiency.
Advances in technologies continue to change the way auto
refinish manufacturers approach refinish – in and outside of
the paint can. “The service landscape is changing, as digital
solutions revolutionize shop management, color matching, and
insurance relations, to name a few examples,” said Toomey.
“Paint technology investments are driving the development of
new color effects, new substrates, and the continued trend to
waterborne products. This increases the importance of infor-
mation transfer between OEM and Refinish paint businesses
as the new technologies implemented by OEMs are translated
to the refinish environment. With a strong position in the OEM
paint market and world class R&D around the globe, BASF
brings leading technologies to the automotive refinish mar-
ket. For example, product and process learnings from BASF’s
Integrated Process for OEMs are evident in our sustainable ap-
proach to product development and shop efficiency programs
for automotive refinish.”
The demand for better, faster and more efficient solutions
yielding high quality results is significant. BASF continues
to focus its development efforts on the integration of new
and sustainable paint technologies such as effect pigments
and water-based products. “We recently launched a new
