Cost and Environmental Concerns Lead to New Auto Coatings Technology

By Cynthia Challener

The automotive industry is, not surprisingly, very concerned with cost. Like most other industries, it also faces increasing environmental regula­tions. At the same time, vehicle manufacturers must continually meet the de­mands of consumers for improved performance.

These difficult market con­ditions have led coatings producers to search for opportunities to improve technology-not only in their coatings formulations, but also in all aspects of the coating process-for both automotive OEM and refinish applications.

Today, when cost reduction is mentioned in the automotive industry, more and more people consider a holistic approach and evaluate entire sys­tems, including design, material selection, and processing/application tech­niques. Coatings are not exempt from this evaluation.