Customer
Leading Indian Automotive Refinish Paint Manufacturer 

Challenge
The customer’s flagship black refinish system was facing three persistent issues:

• High pigment cost per litre due to reliance on a premium imported carbon black grade
• Inconsistent jetness and undertone across production batches, leading to visible shade variation panel to panel
• Long dispersion times, tying up mill capacity and increasing energy and labour costs

These challenges were eroding margins and creating frequent complaints from body shops that demanded deep, consistent jet black finishes.

Solution
ICI Carbon’s technical team audited the customer’s existing formulations and milling conditions, then recommended a controlled switch from the incumbent carbon black to AUTO COAT for the main black refinish line.

Key steps included:

• Reformulating the black base to optimize pigment loading and dispersant level with AUTO COAT
• Fine-tuning milling time and bead size to reach the desired fineness of grind faster
• Running controlled panel evaluations to validate jetness (ΔL*), undertone, and gloss at equal and reduced pigment levels

Results

Within three production cycles, the customer recorded:

• 24% reduction in pigment cost per litre of finished paint, driven by lower pigment loading at equal or higher jetness
• 11% improvement in jetness (ΔL*), delivering deeper, more uniform blacks across batches
• 31% shorter dispersion time, freeing up mill capacity and lowering energy and labour usage

The customer has since standardized AUTO COAT across its core refinish black portfolio and is evaluating it for additional OEM programs.