Helping provide your customers with improved performance and a competitive edge is valuable in any industry, but in the world of motorsport, it can literally make the difference between winning and losing.
Our Car Refinishes business, through its Sikkens brand, is the official supplier of paint solutions to the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 team. The 2011 season will be the third year of the partnership. During that time, we have been working closely with their technical experts to develop superior lightweight coatings with unique functionality and striking color attributes.
A key element of the coatings system on the cars driven by former world champions Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton is the spectacular chrome effect. But equally important is the fact that ongoing improvements to the unique high gloss system mean that one less coat is now required during application. This results in potentially vital weight savings, while the paint process time has been further reduced.
The shared knowledge we have gained from the partnership has already enabled us to translate 80 percent of the tailor-made solution supplied to McLaren into a commercial value proposition for AkzoNobel customers within the car industry.