BASF relies on innovation

BASF relies on innovation

AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY:The automotive refinish business is highly competitive. What has happened at BASF Coatings since you started in May 2024?

DANIEL KOHLER: Before I took over management, I was responsible for the sales of specialty chemicals and commodities within the BASF Group - a completely different environment. It was therefore important to me to first get to know the team, the market and, above all, our customers. This is the only way to identify potential for improvement. This year, BASF Coatings brought numerous innovations to the market, particularly in the areas of digitalization and sustainability. Among other things, we have introduced new clear coats that reduce energy consumption in the workshop. The EcoRepair Assessment has been tested and is now also used in Austria, and digital color matching has been revolutionized with “ImagePlus”.

How has business been since you started?

 Overall, 2024 was a good year; we were able to gain many new customers, especially towards the end of the year. The first quarter of 2025, on the other hand, was rather mixed - the mild winter had a clear impact on the accident statistics and the order backlog in the paint shops was correspondingly low. You can also notice that end users have become more cautious and often postpone repairs that are not absolutely necessary. From the end of March and April, business picked up noticeably again.

Do you see further growth opportunities for BASF Coatings in Austria?

 Our Group's innovations in the field of automotive refinish coatings will offer us opportunities to acquire new customers. These include primarily the particularly sustainable 100 series from Glasurit as well as our new cloud-based platform Refinity with the new spectrophotometer ScanR and ImagePlus. We offer our customers the next generation of color scanning technology and at the same time the fastest and most accurate color matching solution. New clear coats that we launched at the end of 2024 and the eco-certified mixed coats for the 100 series will also contribute to further growth.

Sustainability is on everyone's lips and the obligation to report which materials are used is increasing. How does the paint industry react to this?

We have the highest level of support on the market in Austria - this enables us to provide customers with very specific support. For example, we provide CO₂ certificates for our products that our customers can integrate directly into their sustainability reports. Our EcoRepair Assessment is completely new, with which we can show our customers specifically where there is still room for improvement in their companies and how they compare to other companies in terms of sustainability. On the one hand, this helps to create awareness of measures in this area and on the other hand, you can also use this report as evidence for your customers and suppliers. We also provide very specific recommendations for sustainable materials via our Refinity system and the Image Plus module. This is exactly where our strategic focus lies: digitalization and sustainability hand in hand.

Is the industry already ready for such comprehensive digitalization?

Clearly: yes. Many of our customers are technically at the top level, and some are even already experimenting with innovative concepts such as painting robots. About half use our Refinity system, and 80 percent order their materials digitally via our BASF Coating Order app. Classic color cards and the demand for them are increasingly decreasing. This shows that digitalization has long since arrived in the paint shop.

Specialist painting companies are struggling with a shortage of skilled workers and a lack of interest among young people in learning this profession. Is this profession in danger of extinction?

The lack of qualified specialists affects us greatly. Unfortunately, the painting profession still has the prejudice that you work with toxic substances all day and come home dirty - that is long outdated. We therefore asked ourselves how we can support our customers in their search for apprentices. Under the motto 'BASF goes to school', our employees, who previously worked as painters or bodywork mechanics, present this profession authentically and show how one can develop as part of career orientation lessons in the third and fourth grades of middle schools. A highlight for the students is our Sim spray. Painting processes can be simulated using VR glasses and you can see the results straight away. This attraction also attracts interested people at public and trade fairs. In addition, we show in videos on social media channels how versatile and future-proof the profession is today. The response so far has been very positive. We also develop measures to support companies in increasing their attractiveness for recruiting young skilled workers.

To person:

Born in Upper Austria, Daniel Kohler completed a chemistry HTL and then an industrial engineering degree. Since 2024 he has been responsible for the automotive refinish area of ​​the BASF brands Glasurit, R-M and baslac in Austria and Central Europe.