PPG Industries held a ceremony to celebrate the opening of its new automotive OEM (original equipment manufacturer) coatings development and application centre 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, (pictured centre) PPG Senior VP, 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% of new builds to more than 60% within the next five years,” said Vincent Robin, PPG VP, automotive coatings, Asia Pacific.
