MUENSTER, Germany – BASF has expanded its partnership with Nissan, now supplying the automaker with coatings and paints for the Pathfinder and Infiniti models at its Smyrna plant in Tennessee. BASF supplies Nissan with coating solutions from e-coat and basecoat to clearcoat. BASF also is working on more streamlined technologies with Nissan in emerging markets such as China.
"Nissan is a successful global company. They are a very important customer for us, with whom we have been working closely for a long time," said Laurent Vaucenat, global account manager for Nissan at BASF’s Coatings Division. "Innovative solutions and services as well as our leading-edge technologies have convinced Nissan to extend their collaboration with us in Smyrna now, too."
One example of the innovations leading to their extended partnership is BASF’s "3 Wet waterborne" coating technique, which is used in Smyrna, as well as in Huadu, China. According to BASF, the most notable advantage of the 3 Wet waterborne system is the elimination of one drying phase. Previously, vehicle bodies required two, 30-minute rounds in the drying oven, after application of the primer, and the basecoat/clearcoat. With this new method these three layers are applied wet-on-wet, and then subsequently dried. This shortened process leads to shorter production time, less energy consumption, streamlined paint lines and – above all – lower emissions.
Other unique products BASF supplies are the "sprayables" (primer, basecoats and clearcoats) for Nissan European production sites; Sunderland (England), St. Petersburg (Russia) and Barcelona (Spain).
BASF also has long-standing supply relationships with Nissan in Japan and India. In 2012, the partnership resulted in an award from Zhengzhou Nissan Auto Co., Ltd., honoring BASF with the "Excellent R&D Supplier Award" for the excellent quality in the supply of environmentally friendly car paint.
