TROY, Mich. – Only a handful of people know what new vehicles will look like in 2009. But automotive paint supplier PPG Industries Inc. already has a good idea of what colors those vehicles will be.
Blue will become more popular in the next four years as more dramatic shades are introduced, including watery blue-greens and smoky lilacs. Yellows and oranges will get richer and warmer. Reds will glow in deep shades of cranberry and wine, and dark brown will make a comeback.
“Not everything in here is gospel, but it’s a general direction,” said Lorene Boettcher, PPG’s manager of global design and color marketing, as she stood amid dozens of swatches of color at the company’s suburban Detroit office.
Each fall, Pittsburgh-based PPG hosts a color tour for auto industry officials so they can look at upcoming trends and choose colors they can refine further in their own studios. General Motors Corp. and DaimlerChrysler AG’s Chrysler Group are among PPG’s largest automotive customers. The show will travel the world for the next nine months.
Future colors are identified from trends in fashion, interior design, architecture and cosmetics, Boettcher said. As hybrid vehicles become more popular, drivers may be looking for earthy, natural tones. Redwood, a trend in home furnishings, is inspiring natural shades of red. Luxury makers, always looking for ways set their vehicles apart, might choose rich blends that change slightly depending on the light or paints with flecks of silver-coated glass.
PPG has 20 colorists in North America, Europe, Japan, South Korea, China, Malaysia, India and Australia. They work separately to identify trends and then bring all their ideas together for the show. This year’s show features 130 new colors.
Silver is the worldwide favorite right now, making up 37 percent of vehicles produced. White is second at 14.4 percent. Blue and black are right behind, at 12.7 percent and 11 percent. Red, green, beige and others each command less than 10 percent of the market.
Silver will remain popular for several more years, Boettcher predicted, and PPG is trying to enhance it by experimenting with blends such as silvery green and technology that makes the paint look like liquid metal.
Each region has its quirks. North America prefers paint colors that are conservative but with sparkly flecks, although the colors are brighter than they were a decade ago, Boettcher said. Emerging Asian markets prefer bright, hopeful colors such as red and gold.
“All of our customers are always looking for the next brighter red,” said Jerry Koenigsmark, manager of automotive color design for North America. Koenigsmark said new technology such as red-coated flakes of aluminum are helping the company achieve that goal.
In Europe, the palette is larger, less sparkly and funkier. Because cars there are smaller, automakers experiment with colors such as pink and kelly green. Blacks tinted with red and green also are growing in popularity.
Associated Press
Lorene Boettcher of automotive paint supplier PPG Industries Inc. displays color swatches at the company’s office in Troy, Mich.
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