Multi-Color Profits - Flex Products Inc. develops auto paint which changes color - Statistical Data Included

Automotive Finishing, Summer, 2001 by William Groak

Paint manufacturers are using high-tech color-shift paints to capitalize on the growing personalization trend in the $21.2 billion specialty equipment aftermarket...

Paint manufacturers have been preaching it for years. Auto-makers understand it and use it. Now the automotive specialty equipment segment is receiving the same message loud and clear--color sells, pure and simple. The message and the resulting sales tie directly into America's continuing love affair with cars and trucks and the move toward vehicle personalization. More and more consumers are clamoring for custom paints for their vehicles. The trend is shifting toward more dramatic, colorful paints, especially those that actually change colors.

A good example was at the last SEMA (Special Equipment Manufacturers Association) Show in Las Vegas, the largest automotive trade event in the world. At SEMA, eye-catching color-shift paints (some shift from blue to purple, green to purple, red to gold or silver to green) were featured on more than 60 vehicles. This included several PT Cruisers, Ford Explorer Sport Tracs (the official vehicle of the show), and everything from Cavaliers, race cars, BMWs, street rods and the new Chevy SSR to tricked-out 'pocket rockets' from Honda, Mitsubishi, Toyota and Nissan.

ColorShift [TM] paints are manufactured using the high-tech ChromaFlair [R] light interference pigment developed by Flex Products, Inc. of Santa Rosa, CA. The pigments, also used in plastics and textiles, are multi-layer flakes that use the interference of light to give paints the ability to change colors. Using a technology called Color by Physics [R], Flex Products makes the pigments out of completely colorless materials. When mixed with paint, these pigment flakes reflect light, changing the color appearance of the paint depending on the angle of the viewer.

Sounds complicated, but to the world's major paint manufacturers like BASF, DuPont, Nippon Paint, PPG, Sherwin-Williams, and Valspar/House of Kolor, it is the future of paint and a way to reach more consumers and capitalize on the personalization trend. The pigments can be mixed with conventional pigments and other materials to create unlimited color design options and new profit streams.

"We're seeing more and more trends out there that indicate that consumers like to see color-shifting types of products," said Bob Daily, color-marketing manager, DuPont Performance Coatings. "I was recently at a meeting of the Color Marketing Group (a 1,600-member organization of influential color designers representing a broad array of industries, from transportation to architectural, communications and retail) and many of the members say they are seeing these kinds of ideas happening in the marketplace.

"People like to be different," continued Mr. Daily. "They try and standout, and, certainly, color-shifting pigments give a consumer a whole new venue of how they can make a car or product different, whether it be skis, snowboards, automobiles, golf clubs, anything. It makes the product look unique, in a tasteful way."

"Color-shifting paint with these new pigments is one of the most amazing things to happen in automotive coatings in years," explained Jon Kosmoski, founder of House of Kolor. "When you see a coating like this that just blows everything else out of the water, and when you learn that it's easily retouched...people want this paint and they want it now."

Mr. Kosmoski said he noticed several new uses of color-shift paint at the SEMA Show. "I'm seeing a tremendous growth in the graphics end: ghosted flames, scallops, and more. It's exciting because it creates new customers. Color-shift paint is exciting. You can change the look of your vehicle, personalize it and make it yours."

Many vehicles at SEMA used color-shift paints in a variety of applications, going mild to wild. Some used color-shift paint to coat interiors, including dashes, seats, cup holders and consoles. Some exhibitors painted wheels while others applied color-shift paint to products including ground effects kits (wings and spoilers), to attract more customers.

"We used the color-shifting enhanced paint because it creates a new story to tell for these vehicles," said auto restyler Larry Weiner, executive vice president, Performance West Group, Vista, CA. Mr. Weiner's company built several vehicles for the show. "Rather than just a painted vehicle, we have a paint that tells a story all by itself. It's a paint that changes color when you walk around it, depending on the light. In essence, there's a complete story in the paint alone that gives the vehicle much more significance."

Jerry Droll, marketing manager for Flex Products said, "The future of the pigments as a creative design tool for color designers around the world is unlimited. For paint manufacturers this can mean improved sales in more niche markets. Throughout history, color design has always been used as a selling tool," commented Mr. Droll. "It's easy to see why it's becoming so widespread in the automotive aftermarket -- it attracts customers."