No other company has more expertise in advancing waterborne
automotive coatings technology than PPG.
Long before most of North America’s body shops had even given thought to waterborne finishes, PPG was already immersed in it. That’s because PPG saw the environmental handwriting on the wall even before it was written and for the past two decades has been developing and refining its technological expertise in both North America and Europe.
Having worked closely with OEMs in their transition to waterborne at vehicle assembly plants, PPG scientists understood early on that the refinish industry would have to move away from solvent-based paints.
They took the steps to address the environmental issues solvent-based paints raised by developing a water based paint system that produced remarkable results—that turned the Head’s of the OEMs. PPG expanded its global research capabilities with the acquisitions of ICI Auto color and MaxMeyer in the 1990s, solidly establishing itself as the world’s waterborne paint leader. That role was reinforced when, in 1992, ICI Auto color (now Nexa Auto color) introduced the world’s first waterborne refinish system, an innovation that received the United Kingdom’s Queens Award for Technology in 1995.
Listening carefully to customer feedback and taking advantage of its expanded global research capabilities, PPG continued to add refinements and innovations to its waterborne offerings throughout the 1990s, and into the 21st century. For example, in 1998 it was the first to make available a compliant system capable of repairing 3-stage pearl finishes. And in 1999, PPG placed its first brand offering, Envirobase—a product of its best European and North American waterborne technologies—into body shops. Ferrari was so impressed that it chose Envirobase as its original equipment finish.
The OEM’s introduction of new metallic and effects finishes was the driving catalyst for PPG’s development in 2005 of new high opacity toners offering the latest pigments—a significant advancement in waterborne color-match capabilities. These advancements were good reasons why PPG’s Aquabase Plus and Envirobase High Performance systems became readily accepted for use more than 17,000 shops across Europe seeking to comply with the European Union’s stricter refinish regulations. The latest innovation for PPG waterborne products is the Engine Bay Repair System, which significantly speeds the repair process when making these types of repairs.
Today in North America, more and more collision shops are making the transition to waterborne as a result of pending new air quality regulations in California and Canada.
Thus far, more than 700 collision shops have made the transition to PPG’s Envirobase High Performance and Aquabase Plus waterborne basecoats. They can be confident in the fact that Aquabase Plus and Envirobase High Performance systems from PPG represent the culmination of two decades of intense research and development spanning two continents and hundreds of chemists, scientists and color-matching experts.
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