PPG Industries recently held a ceremony  to celebrate the opening of its new automotive coatings development and application center in Tianjin, China. This facility is the first of its kind locally, and it will focus on the development of automotive coatings in China.
The ceremony also celebrated the opening of PPG Coatings (Tianjin) Co., Ltd.’s new waterborne coatings manufacturing facility. The Tianjin plant is PPG’s largest coatings manufacturing facility globally, and the expansion significantly increases the plant’s production capacity for waterborne coatings.

“We are pleased to celebrate the completion of this critical expansion project in China,” said Cynthia Niekamp, PPG senior vice president, automotive OEM coatings. “China’s automotive manufacturing industry is experiencing dramatic growth, and in light of new environmental protection regulations, the increased demand for eco-friendly waterborne automotive coatings continues to drive the expansion of PPG’s business here.”

Last year, the Regulation on the Access Management of Passenger Vehicle Manufacturers and Products went into effect, requiring that all automotive basecoats and topcoats used in manufacturing have waterborne formulas, setting a new entry threshold for automakers. As a result, PPG’s waterborne coatings technologies – with their low VOC (volatile organic compound) emissions and high cost-efficiency – have become increasingly popular with automakers in China.

“Following the environmental protection policies stipulated by the Chinese government, we estimate that waterborne coatings use on newly built vehicles in China will increase from 40 percent of new builds to more than 60 percent within the next five years,” said Vincent Robin, PPG vice president, automotive coatings, Asia Pacific. “PPG is well positioned to help automakers in China increase their use of waterborne coatings products and technologies. For example, the B1:B2 premium compact process is an innovative waterborne coatings technology that enables our customers to eliminate the primer layer and reduce the total cost of painting a car, as well as the total weight of the vehicle for fuel efficiency.”

In addition to the capacity expansion, the new development and application center is equipped with advanced equipment to simulate the automatic car painting processes in a shop, which is another example of introducing PPG’s best practices to China, Robin added.
“Innovation, sustainability and color expertise have long been strengths at PPG,” said Mike Horton, PPG president, Asia Pacific. “The expansion of our capacity to manufacture waterborne coatings marks a crucial step toward our sustainable development. We will continue to capitalize on the favorable investment climate and geographic advantages of the Tianjin Binhai New Area and to develop and produce more premium technologies and sustainable products for the Chinese and global automotive markets.”
With automotive coatings plants in Tianjin and Wuhu and a resin plant in Zhangjiagang, PPG serves a wide range of automotive coatings customers in China including well-known global automakers and leading domestic manufacturers.