Axalta Coating Systems and Shanghai Kinlita Chemical have signed an agreement to form a joint venture in China.

Aimed at driving deep into China’s burgeoning commercial truck market, the agreement leverages Axalta’s position in coating technologies with Kinlita’s position in China’s commercial truck market to “create a powerful and compelling new presence in China’s commercial truck market.” The commercial truck industry plays a vital role, from facilitating the transport of goods to supporting the expansion of the nation’s infrastructure, in supporting China’s economic development.

“We are very pleased to be signing this joint venture agreement for deeper cooperation with Kinlita,” said Michael Cash, senior vice president of Axalta Coating Systems and president of Axalta’s Industrial Coatings business. “Our agreement brings together our leadership position in supplying the commercial vehicle market globally with advanced coating technologies, such as our environmentally responsible waterborne primer and basecoats that can help commercial truck manufacturers reduce their overall environmental footprint, and Kinlita’s rich history and strong market position. This is a win-win development – for our customers and for both of our companies in China.”

“With Kinlita’s supply positions and strong marketing capability in the commercial truck market and Axalta’s high-performance, low volatile organic compound paints, we have high expectations for the future of this venture,” added Kinlita chairman Wu Guozheng. “I am delighted to join hands with Axalta to develop the commercial truck market in China.”
 
According to LMC Automotive, annual production of medium and heavy duty trucks in China is expected to rise from 895,000 units in 2015 to 1,049,000 in 2017.