BASF’s XSpark automotive coating bags Red Dot design award

For most car owners, the colour of their car is still the most important individualisation factor and there is growing demand for more depth and dimensions. When it comes to automotive finishes, special effects can achieve subtle contrasts that lend the colour a sophisticated vitality.

BASF’s Coatings Division has developed XSpark, a colour effect that has recently bagged one of the world’s most prestigious design competitions: the Red Dot Award: Product Design.

For the first time in the 60-year history of the competition, an OEM automotive paint has been awarded the coveted ‘Red Dot’. The 38 jurors, all of whom are independent design experts, chose the winners from among the 4,928 submissions from all areas of industrial design. The evaluation criteria included the product’s degree of innovation, its durability and its symbolic and emotional content.

According to BASF, XSpark is an exclusive colour effect for the automotive industry that sparkles in a very eye-catching manner and thus creates a much more intensive effect than other special-effect pigments. The material is applied in a single step in a mere 10 to 20 µm thick layer, together with the pigmented paint. This corresponds to 10 to 20 percent of the thickness of a human hair. The result is a homogenous surface that permits a special depth to come about in the finish thanks to a pure, solid-colour reflection.

Stephan Schwarte, head of Basecoat Pigments/Dispersions & Color Design Lab at BASF’s Coatings Division describes it as follows: “The glass particles integrated in the paint layer are particularly effective only in light. The sparkle created this way enables the automotive finish to look exceptionally luxurious and elegant without being intrusive. We have therefore achieved an unprecedented exclusive effect.”

The targeted interaction between colour and special effects is making automotive colours more complex and multifaceted, which expands the range of applications. Tailored to the particular model, such finishes can accentuate the shape of a car in terms of style. Mark Gutjahr, head of Design at BASF’s Coatings division in Europe, says: “Our paints and effects act as an important design element. We are particularly pleased about being awarded the Red Dot in product design. The award underlines our design competence and sends an important signal to our customers in the automotive industry.”

BASF says that XSpark also plays a significant role in the company’s new colour collection that will be officially presented in late July and which provides a preview of the automotive colour trends. Six colors will be featuring this innovative effect and will represent the wide range of possibilities offered by automotive coatings.