For paints and coatings producers, the European automotive sector is highly lucrative, with the region OEM segment offering sales opportunities across other continents.

BASF, the world’s fifth largest coatings and paint manufacturer, has a huge role to play in the automotive sector. 

“There is a worldwide trend to focus more closely on sustainability matters,” explained Dr. Wolfgang Reckordt from BASF Coatings. “These are very positive changes for BASF, since the company has been committed to sustainability for many years. Sustainability is a lot more than just a trend. It is a huge opportunity in many ways. Sustainability is a key factor for growth and value creation.” 

Speaking to Motortrades Insight’s Danny Hewitt, Dr. Reckordt cited the CathorGuard 800 and 900 cathodic e-coatings as an example of where how automotive paints are becoming more eco-friendly. Both of these are tin-free. 

Body respray specialists are increasingly able to offer their customers higher quality work due to the innovations and advances coatings manufacturers such as BASF and PPG are making possible.  

According to Dr. Reckordt, CathoGuard 800 and 900 are ‘absolute high-performance products that combine numerous advantages’. “Their performance goes far beyond mere rust protection,” he said. “They offer an excellent basis for the application of the subsequent paint layers and protect edges and cavities from corrosion and stone chipping – even for highly complex automotive parts. 

“The new generation of e-coats is especially environmentally friendly. They contain less than one percent solvents and are optimally suited for integrated application processes like our Integrated Process II, which aims at integrating the functions of the primer in automotive OEM paint systems into the basecoat. This innovation can make the entire primer section superfluous during coating of automotive bodies, shortening the paintline to boot. 

“By cutting out a complete coating and baking stage, customers of BASF can reduce solvent emissions and energy consumption by up to 20 per cent each.”

He said this is confirmed by the company’s ‘Eco-Efficiency Analysis’, which is said to examine the entire life cycle of a product or process ‘from cradle to grave’. The analysis helps BASF offer its customers advice, so that it provides a solution for the car manufacturer that is optimal in terms of environmental friendliness and cost. The holistic perspective is said to take both economic and environmentally relevant aspects into account.

PAINTS OF THE FUTURE

Dr. Wolfgang Reckordt told Motortrades Insight that BASF Coatings’ teams are working on the ‘coatings of the future’. “These coatings especially stand out for their high scratch resistance, protection from environmental impacts and improved corrosion protection, as well as their innovative colour effects,” he said. “BASF is continuously working to develop innovative paint systems and intelligent solutions, like heat management.  

The topic of electromobility plays a significant role, according to Dr. Reckordt, with the company offering what is describes as ‘innovative technologies for automotive energy efficiency of the future’. 

As a paint manufacturer, BASF Coatings says it is working to develop solutions in the area of temperature management. 

“A good example is the smart forvision,” Dr. Reckordt said. “The concept car jointly developed by smart and BASF was presented at the International Motor Show (IAA). The white special-effect finish supports the smart forvision’s comprehensive temperature management (white reflects heat radiation in general). 

“But even surfaces coated with dark colors stay much cooler thanks to special color pigments – ‘Cool Pigments’. 

“They ensure that heat radiation is reflected rather than absorbed. This leads to a temperature reduction of up to 20 degrees Celsius on the paint surface and of up to approximately four degrees in the vehicle interior.

“As a result, energy for air conditioning can be saved because the passenger compartment does not heat up as much. This benefits the passengers, who enjoy the more comfortable environment, and the material is subjected to less stress due to the lower temperatures.”

And with temperatures the highest they have been all year in Britain and across the rest of Western Europe, it is changing technology such as this that is proving to provide the edge in a hugely competitive segment where there will always be demand for the next generation of automotive coatings.

SCRATCH-RESISTANT COATINGS

“Our clearcoat iGloss is an excellent example of a product with enhanced scratch resistance,” Dr. Reckordt added. “During the application process, organic and inorganic substances are combined to ensure long-lasting gloss and greater overall durability. iGloss permanently reduces the creation of annoying microscratches, like those that can come about at the car wash, for example. This preserves the ‘new car effect’ for considerably longer. iGloss is the result of intensive research. 

“The individual molecules of this coating are connected to each other to form a dense network. The closer the crosslinking, the more impervious the clearcoat is to mechanical damage. The aim of our research was therefore to create a network that is extremely stable without sacrificing any of its flexibility. 

“And our researchers have succeeded in doing just that with iGloss. It obtains its exceptional scratch resistance from its special lattice structure. iGloss hybrid clearcoat combines the advantages of “hard” inorganic and “soft” organic substances. Combining the two ensures long-lasting gloss and greater overall durability. iGloss can be used both for OEM paintwork and for painting add-on parts. For both carmakers and car owners, the advantages of iGloss are obvious: fewer scratches, higher gloss and many more years of fun with your car.

“The expertise in all layers and comprehension of their interaction is also becoming more and more important. This know-how is needed to develop shorter processes, for example. BASF Coatings is one of only a few producers to offer innovative technologies and solutions for all four layers.”

Its customers are increasingly making efforts to use products and processes that contribute to sustainable development. “For this reason, we have focused our innovation portfolio on sustainability and will continue to strengthen it in this direction,” he said.

Dr. Wolfgang Reckordt said BASF’s research joint venture with Henkel ‘is moving in the same direction’. 

He said the company’s main aim is to develop products and processes ‘that offer greater benefits in terms of costs, performance and environmental compatibility than the standard corrosion protection processes’. He concluded that a reduced number of process stages for metal pretreatment and corrosion protection would offer customers extensive benefits for the first phase of automotive painting. 

And if costs can be reduced or remain stable in the coatings production and application process for OEMs, car prices should, theoretically, remain stable across Europe. 

While automotive paint and coatings represent a small cost in the overall manufacture of a vehicle, it is vital to prolong its life, preventing rust and corrosion and improving its aesthetics. 

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