The striking exterior design of the new Buick Riviera concept car, which made its global debut at Auto Shanghai 2013, features a unique Ice Cyan-jade coating from BASF. The car’s timeless design was created by Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC), a design and engineering joint venture between General Motors and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), also the design and engineering center of Shanghai General Motors.

The exterior design of the Buick Riviera was reinforced by a customized color “Ice Cyan-jade,” developed by the color design experts in BASF Shanghai Coatings Co., Ltd. in collaboration with the design team at PATAC.

Consistent with the environmentally friendly design concept of Buick Riviera’s latest concept model, BASF coated the car with waterborne paint that significantly minimizes the emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Min Cao, PATAC’s Chief Designer & Advanced Design Director, pointed out, “The Chinese saying goes, ‘A gentleman’s disposition is as graceful as the luster of jade’. The elegance of jade is very much in line with the pursuit of graceful and luxurious style in Buick’s aesthetics for the future.”

Burt Wong, Executive Director of the Design Department at PATAC, added, “PATAC and BASF have always had excellent cooperation in the development of automotive coatings. At the same time, BASF has an outstanding technical development team in China that is highly responsive and is able to tailor special colors and formulations according to the specific requests of PATAC’s designers.”

Dr. Thierry Herning, General Manager, BASF Shanghai Coatings Co., Ltd., said, “We are proud to contribute to the success of the new Buick Riviera concept car with our innovative color and coating. This is another good example of our excellent partnership with Shanghai General Motors."

The joint effort of SGM-PATAC and BASF in supporting environmentally friendly technologies and initiatives goes back a long way. The two companies cooperated in 2005 to launch the first waterborne basecoats in China.

Since 1998, BASF has been a reliable partner to SGM-PATAC, supplying the full range of automotive coating products, including the latest e-coat product line CathoGuard® 800, which is commended for its tin-free and extremely low solvent content.