Nov. 20, 2013—PPG Automotive Refinish announced on Wednesday that its new matte clearcoats, D8115 Matte and D8117 Semi-Gloss, have been approved for use on all Daimler matte-finished passenger cars worldwide.
PPG also received approval from Ford Motor Company for a number of other clearcoats, including the DELTRON DC2000 Ultra Velocity Clearcoat, NEXA AUTOCOLOR P190-6800 HS Express Clearcoat, and ENVIROBASE High Performance EC800 Ultra Fast 2.1 Clearcoat.
The new Daimler-approved clearcoats use the unique PPG dual-clear repair process recently validated by Mercedes-Benz. The increased popularity of the matte effect has proven technically complex to repair, with entire panels often needing a new basecoat and clearcoat. PPG’s dual-clear process allows the basecoat to be blended, significantly reducing the repair area and bringing the process back into more conventional dimensions.
The dual-clear process uses a glossy coat first, immediately followed by a second coat based on a blend of the two new clearcoats, D8115 and D8117, providing a match to the original color while maintaining the matte finish. The process can be used on all colors.
The first to market the process, PPG believes the process will greatly benefit body shops since the application and blending of the basecoat can be carried out using existing processes, saving time and improving efficiencies.