Big Three automakers' clearcoat test site kicks into gear
The Big Three automakers rev up their Wixom pilot line to determine how powder clearcoat handles as a vehicle topcoat.
The results could supercharge the powder coating industry. The partnership would have seemed unlikely even 5 years ago - Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors teaming to study how powder clearcoat performs as an automobile topcoat. This month, however, engineers from the Big Three automakers are standing together for the first time in an observation booth watching the first powder clearcoated auto panels roll off the line in Wixom, Mich. The engineers will test powder clearcoat together and will share test results. But when tests are complete, they will make plans separately on whether to use a powder clearcoat at their company.