General Motors recognized BASF’s Coatings division as an Overdrive Award winner as part of GM’s 30th annual Supplier of the Year awards ceremony, held recently in Phoenix, AZ. BASF was one of 31 companies to earn an Overdrive Award for 2021.

First presented in 2012, the Overdrive Award is a distinction reserved for suppliers who display outstanding achievement across the Global Purchasing and Supply Chain organization’s key priorities. These include sustainability, innovation, relationships, total enterprise cost, launch excellence and safety.

BASF was honored for an innovative, brand-new clearcoat formulation to address concerns GM had about the appearance of certain Cadillac models in its Lansing Grand River Assembly Plant. After trials in early 2021, the appearance improvement was immediately noticeable in the plant. The new formula also avoided the potential of having to spray each car with clearcoat twice.

“Appearance matters. We make our customer’s vehicles look great in a sustainable way,” said Jeff Jones, BASF vice president, global key account management. “We are constantly evolving and innovating to meet our customers’ needs so we can continue as their supplier of choice.”