Nippon Paint China and Covestro establish a partnership in the production of bio-based automotive coatings

Shanghai (Gasgoo) – Nippon Paint China, a leading global coating manufacturer, today announced a strategic partnership with Covestro, one of the leading suppliers of premium polymers, at the 5th China International Import Expo (CIIE).

Under the recently signed agreement, the two companies will join forces to develop advanced bio-based automotive coating solutions, which will be applied for the first time to on-display vehicle parts under the Chinese luxury electric vehicle brand HiPhi, in an effort to meet automotive customers’ demands for high performance, exceptional exterior appearance and reduction of carbon emissions.

Photo credit: Nippon Paint China

“The new strategic collaboration will enable us to use advanced bio-based automotive coating solutions in automotive model components, which not only demonstrates the world-leading innovation resources and capabilities of both parties, but also demonstrates Nippon Paint’s firm confidence and long-term commitment. the development of the Chinese market,” commented Xu Jie, President of Nippon Paint China IU Business Group and CEO of Nippon Paint China Automotive Coatings Business Unit.

According to a press release from Nippon Paint, its bio-based automotive coating solution uses a partially bio-based hardener from Covestro. Compared to traditional formulas, the newly developed solution is able to effectively reduce carbon dioxide emissions and the use of petroleum resources, promoting the sustainable recycling of natural resources.

In addition to some metal samples of the car parts, the co-coating was used on the plastic body parts of the HiPhi car for testing. Nippon Paint said it intends to help increase the range of electric vehicles by minimizing the weight of the vehicle body to boost energy conservation and reduce emissions from a lightweight perspective.

Nippon Paint added that its bio-based automotive coating solution provides excellent crosslinking density after the coatings are cured, allowing paint protection films to have high hardness and chemical resistance and better adapt to different application conditions.

In addition, the new coatings blend well with the production lines of various customers to help the automotive industry reduce costs and increase efficiency.

HiPhi Z; Photo credit: Nippon Paint China

The exceptional leveling property and transparency of Nippon Paint’s bio-based automotive coatings can not only provide excellent image clarity and beautiful appearance of paint protection films, but also achieve a matte appearance with multi-color gradient color paint to better meet the needs of Generation Z consumers in more variety of car exterior colors.

The new strategic collaboration also demonstrates the successful application of Covestro’s world-leading R&D technology, established in Germany, to Nippon Paint’s bio-based automotive coatings in the Chinese market.