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China accounts for more than 32% of the global automotive coating market. In value terms, the sector is estimated at about 57 billion yuan ($8.55 billion) at the end of 2025.
August 28, 2026
By: Yogender Singh
Experiencing one of the best periods in its history, the Chinese automotive coating industry is having a dream run for the past five years. Coating producers in this segment have augmented their capacities and capabilities in order to cater to the ever-increasing demand. Coatings World presents an overview of the Chinese automotive coating industry in this feature.
China is the largest automotive coating market in the world by a large distance – and one of the most complex. The country accounts for more than 32% of the global automotive coating market. In 2025, about 520,000 tons of automotive coating products, including e-coat, primer, basecoat, clearcoat and hardener, were consumed in the automotive sector.
In value terms, the sector is estimated at about 57 billion yuan ($8.55 billion) at the end of 2025. Chinese automotive coating sector is made up of more than 300 big, mid-sized and small-scale producers. Foreign multinational paint and coating producers currently account for more than 50% of the market share in the Chinese automotive coating industry. Major companies, namely PPG, BASF, Kansai, Nippon Paint, Axalta, and KCC, are some of the leading producers and suppliers of automotive coating products in China.
Automotive coatings have been spurring the overall paint and coating industry in the country for the last few years, as the architectural segment has been going through one of its leanest periods for the last five years.
Automotive coating demand surged by double digits during 2025, after subdued growth in 2024. In absolute numbers, automotive coatings registered a volume growth of 13.1% in 2025 over the previous year. In value terms, the growth at 14.8% was more impressive than the volume growth.
Chinese automotive coating producers had a forgettable year in 2024, when volume growth in this sub-segment was a meager 4.3%.
China’s passenger car industry is the major demand driver for automotive coatings in the country. At more than 30 million cars in 2025, the country produces more passenger cars than the next four major producers – Japan, India, Germany, and South Korea – combined. The country’s automotive production rise has been supported by strong domestic demand, an aggressive EV industry, and the global expansion of brands such as BYD, SAIC, Chery, Geely, and Changan.
In addition to passenger and commercial vehicles, two-wheelers have also emerged as significant consumers of automotive coatings during the past ten years. According to the China Chamber of Commerce for Motorcycle, the industry’s output and sales reached 22.11 million and 21.97 million units in 2025, up 10.6% and 10.2% year on year, respectively. Additionally, exports hit 13.37 million units during the year, marking a 21.3% increase.
Electric scooters and bikes are another emerging segment for automotive coating producers. China has made the fastest progress among its peers in the manufacturing and export of these vehicles in recent years. This segment is expected to account for the bulk of coating consumption in the two-wheeler segment in the next few years.
Automotive producers in China are increasingly demanding higher quality products from automotive coating producers. The increase in proportion of luxury vehicles over the years has also led to a steady increase in the consumption of premium and higher value-added coating products. Consumption of these value-added products has outgrown the average growth of the automotive paint and coating industry by many percentage points.
Supply chain disruptions, rising raw material prices, and the emergence of smaller automotive coating producers, who have reportedly resorted to a price war, are three of the largest challenges for automotive coating producers in the country. Most of the large automotive coating producers have been investing in supply chains to ensure the timely delivery of raw materials and finished products.
To support new growth, Nippon Paint opened its largest global automotive coatings production base in Tianjin in May 2025, investing more than CNY700 million (USD$99.9 million) in the plant with an annual capacity of 133,000 tons, boosting China’s automotive coating output by 30 percent.
Since entering the Chinese market in 1992, Nippon Paint has expanded its operations across various segments of the paint industry. Currently, the company operates more than 74 production bases in mainland China.
In 2025, BASF’s Coatings division expanded its production capacity for polyester and polyurethane resin at its Caojing plant in Shanghai, China. Originally established in 2015 with an installed capacity of 8,000 tons per annum of polyester and polyurethane resin, the plant has now increased its capacity to 18,800 tons per annum — a more than two-fold increase.
BASF Coatings is also increasing its electrocoat binder production through process optimization at the Caojing site. This strategic move will strengthen BASF Coatings’ leading position in the dynamic automotive coatings market, enabling the company to better support the growth of all coating layers used by automotive OEMs and component manufacturers over the next decade in the AsiaPacific region.
“The increased production capacity for resins and planned additional capacities for binders will enhance our supply reliability, enabling us to meet the growing demand for automotive OEM coatings in the region. This expansion underscores our commitment to local production and our ability to respond swiftly to customer needs,” said Patrick Zhao, senior vice president, global automotive OEM coatings at BASF.
In 2025, PPG opened an automotive coatings color creation studio at the PPG Global Coatings Innovation Center in Tianjin.
The studio is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment to ensure high-precision color presentation and immersive experiences for clients, as well as the latest software tools to enhance color design support.
“The opening marks not only a significant strategic move for PPG in the Chinese market, but also a milestone in its deeper engagement with the new energy vehicle (NEV) sector,” said Cindy Li, PPG senior color styling manager, Asia Pacific, automotive OEM coatings. “As a global leader in coatings and color solutions, PPG reaffirms its long-term commitment to China by offering innovative, customized, and sustainable color solutions that help Chinese automotive brands achieve global success.”
PPG operates five main manufacturing sites (Tianjin, Shenyang, Wuhu, Jiading and Zhangjiagang) for automotive OEM coatings in the country. CW
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