Fewer cars, less paint
Fewer cars, less paint
Keywords Automotive industry, Paints, United Kingdom
It is not just the medium size independent paint manufacturers, such as the members of the Nova Paint Club, who have cause to worry about their future. These "worries" stem from changing markets, changing fashions, and the rise of new products. A classical case of the latter is the growing importance of powder coatings over the past two decades. The small and medium size company could not afford to set up its own technology to become competitive in powder coatings, and most of the larger multinationals have made specialisation a keystone of their marketing philosophy, rather than diversification into developing and producing newer products.
Concern for the future has been heightened in the UK as a result of our diminishing manufacturing base. If fewer products are made, then less paint is required to protect them and/or to improve their aesthetic appearance. Nowhere is this more true than in the car manufacturing industry. With the shrinking of the Rover output at Longbridge and next year's closures at Ford in Dagenham and Vauxhall in Luton, the larger paint companies which supply the car industry can only hope that increased production at the Nissan and Toyota plants will go some way to offset this. For the smaller independents supplying the general,shrinking, manufacturing base, the long term prospects are certainly worrying.
John Bean
