High-Tech Paint Colors SEMA Show

LAS VEGAS--More than 30 vehicles at this week’s SEMA Show here are featuring ChromaFlair pigments from Flex Products Inc. of Santa Rosa, Calif. The paints use a multi-layer structure to reflect light--giving them the ability to change color depending upon the angle of viewing.

The eight standard pigments can be mixed to create a wide variety of colors. In Vegas, the paint is gracing several Ford Explorer Sport Tracs (the official vehicle of the SEMA Show) and Chrysler PT Cruisers.

“Paints containing ChromaFlair pigments are easy to apply and repair with no matching problems,” according to custom vehicle builder Joe Verdone of Truck Creations by Verdone of Scottsdale, Ariz. “Color-shift paint is extremely durable and versatile. You can create any colors you want. It’s really cool.”

This week’s show, which attracts some 80,000 attendees, features 6,000-plus booths and 800 new products, is the key automotive aftermarket trade show of the year. The products on display at SEMA range from wheels to sunroofs to superchargers, all promoting automotive lifestyle and vehicle personalization trends. With so many products on display, companies must do something to make their products stand out to product-hungry retailers looking for the next big thing.

“The color-shift paint is amazing,” said Bill North, OE/AM sales manager, WebastoHollandia Sunroofs Inc., which has a Ford Windstar on display at the show featuring a paint job enhanced by the silver-to-gold ChromaFlair pigment. “The vehicle looks great. Without question, the paint will bring people into our booth and help us make sales,” he predicted.

“Color sells,” said Jerry Droll, Flex Products’ marketing manager. “ChromaFlair pigments are a high-tech way to create colors never seen before, and the ColorShift effects help draw in customers.”

Major paint companies such as DuPont, Sherwin-Williams, PPG, BASF and House of Kolor have caught on to this trend, offering paint lines using ChromaFlair pigments, according to the company. Some 15 brands of ChromaFlair-enhanced paint are sold worldwide.

“The ChromaFlair pigments are creating a whole new way to look at color,” said George Sweat of DuPont Automotive Finishes. “Our ChromaFlair-based brand, ChromaLusion, is creating new marketing opportunities for OEMs. This is the future of color.”

For more information, contact www.colorshift.com.