PPG Earns PACE Award for Fourth Consecutive Year

CeramiClear clearcoat is the first automotive clearcoat to use nanoparticle technology in the final coating applied to car bodies, protecting the color coat while providing a durable, glossy appearance. The patented nanoparticle technology creates a highly cross-linked network at the surface of the coating for superior resistance to damage caused by day-to-day use, car washes and environmental hazards such as acid rain and tree sap.

Twelve PACE Awards were presented in the annual competition sponsored by Automotive News magazine and Cap Gemini Ernst & Young. Recipients were selected from 22 finalists after a comprehensive evaluation by an independent panel representing industry and academia.

"This award validates our ability to leverage the vast technical expertise of PPG to meet the needs of the automotive industry in ways that only we can," said Dennis Kovalsky, PPG vice president of automotive OEM coatings. "CeramiClear clearcoat is such a breakthrough product that we actually had to create new, tougher test procedures because no automotive coating had achieved this level of mar resistance before."

Developed in conjunction with Mercedes-Benz during a three-year period, CeramiClear clearcoat commercialization began in August 2002 at the Sindelfingen, Germany plant. A second Mercedes-Benz plant, at Bremen, has also launched the product as well. According to PPG, commercialization of CeramiClear clearcoat in Europe will accelerate this year. In addition, PPG has developed an aftermarket clearcoat - which provides approximately the same level of protection as the factory-applied CeramiClear clearcoat - for vehicles requiring body repairs.