AkzoNobel announced today the North American launch of Sikkens Autowave Optima, a new generation waterborne basecoat for vehicle refinishing. The product, which was first introduced in select European, Middle East, and African markets earlier this year, aims to enhance sustainability while significantly improving body shop productivity.
The new basecoat technology delivers up to 50% faster processing times compared to conventional application methods, requiring only 1.5 layers for perfect coverage. This results in approximately 15% paint material savings on average. The one-stop application process eliminates the need for flash-off between layers, reducing energy costs and carbon emissions by up to 60%.
“We are excited to introduce our new generation basecoat. This basecoat reflects the DNA of our company, and our commitment to addressing the key challenges of body shops — sustainability and efficiency — saving valuable time and energy through our advanced coating technology,” said John Griffin, Director of AkzoNobel’s Automotive & Specialty Coatings business in North America.
The technology builds on AkzoNobel’s 30-year heritage in waterborne expertise. In addition to environmental benefits, the product offers high color accuracy through a digital color process using AkzoNobel’s Automatchic spectrophotometer and MIXIT color retrieval software.
Autowave Optima will be launching over the next several months throughout North America. The product has a VOC level of 380 g/l, which is 10% lower than the 420 g/l regulatory requirement.