New Dura-Prime Electrocoat by PPG Provides Vehicles Added UV Protection While Cutting Costs

TROY, Mich., July 30 -- PPG Industries recently launched its Dura-Prime electrocoat -- a lead-free technology that provides protection against ultraviolet (UV) degradation and helps automakers reduce costs associated with the coatings application process by eliminating the need for a primer surfacer layer. Dura-Prime electrocoat provides the same level of protection against corrosion and chipping as current electrocoat technologies.

Dura-Prime electrocoat was commercialized in April by PPG in Kedah, Malaysia, at Inokom Corp. -- a joint venture of Renault, Hyundai Motor Company, Hyumal Motor, Berjaya Group Berhad and Pesumals. The manufacturer is applying the coatings technology to its line of vans and trucks, including the Permas, Lorimas and ATOS.

This innovative electrocoat combines the charactersitics of commercial lead-free electrocoats with the UV durability feature of conventional primer surfacers, enabling automakers to eliminate the primer surfacer layer from their coatings process. This yields significant savings in materials, labor, maintenance and repairs as well as waste disposal.

Dura-Prime electrocoat -- with low volatile organic compounds and hazardous air pollutants content -- helps decrease pollution levels, while increasing throughput and improving the consistency and quality of paint application.

"Dura-Prime electrocoat is the next logicial step in the evolution of PPG's electrocoat technologies to meet automakers' needs," said Robert L. White, global director, substrate protection systems for PPG. "Our initial research indicates that this coating can provide automakers with substantial savings in the total cost to paint a vehicle and the captial required to build a paint shop."

As part of the technology validation process, PPG coated several vehicles with the Dura-Prime electrocoat at its Electrocoat Development Center in Flint, Mich. The vehicles were evaluated at various automaker test tracks for chip resistance and early signs of corrosion and UV degradation. Initial research revealed that the coating was so resilient to UV degradation that it required PPG to develop a new accelerated test procedure.

According to White, the Dura-Prime electrocoat technology can be easily incorporated into an automaker's existing facility with slight equipment modifications and can be used in conjunction with commercial topcoat technologies. Dura-Prime electrocoat provides the potential to greatly reduce the paint shop footprint when implemented in a newly constructed facility or during a plant reconfiguration.

Dura-Prime electrocoat is the latest of electrocoat innovations from PPG, which pioneered the world's first cathodic electrocoat in 1971.

Based in Kedah, Malaysia, Inokom Corp. was formed in 1992 and assembles light commercial vehicles for the Malaysian market.

On the forefront of innovation in decorative and protective coatings and environmental application concerns since 1927, PPG has long been a leader in helping automakers advance technologies and processes used in the application of automotive coatings.

Pittsburgh-based PPG is the world's leading manufacturer of transportation coatings and a major global supplier of industrial and packaging coatings, and a leading North American producer of architectural coatings. In addition, PPG manufactures flat and fabricated glass, continuous-strand fiber glass and chemicals. Sales were US$8.1 billion for 2002.

NOTE TO EDITORS: The electrocoat is the first paint layer applied to a vehicle body to provide corrosion protection and a smooth exterior surface for the adhesion of sebsequent layers of paint.