OREANDA-NEWS. December 14, 2012. Trucks, heavy-duty vans, buses – BASF is not only the leading coatings manufacturer in the passenger car sector. The company also provides a full range of coating systems for manufacturers of commercial and transportation vehicles.  CathoGuard® 900 is the latest cathodic e-coat from BASF. Daimler subsidiary EvoBus is now changing from CathoGuard 500 to CathoGuard 900 at its plants.

CathoGuard 900 is low in solvents, tin-free, contains no hazardous air pollutants and already complies with European legislation that comes into force in 2015. “Daimler is totally committed to environmentally friendly product solutions,” said Carsten Vietze, head of Truck and Bus Europe at BASF Coatings. “Together with EvoBus, we started compensation at the EvoBus plant in Mannheim in November.” The bus plant in Hoєdere, Turkey, is set to follow at the beginning of 2013.

In addition to its excellent anti-corrosion and environmentally friendly properties, the tin-free CathoGuard 900 also has a wider range of curing temperatures. This means that the temperatures in the curing phase for mass components, like those used in the bus sector, can be lower (150°C).

BASF has also set a milestone with its partner in technical terms: “Since 2010, it has been possible to paint buses with a metallic basecoat in mass production using painting robots with electrostatic technology at the EvoBus plant in Neu-Ulm,” said Vietze. Compared to manual application, this enables much faster and more efficient production while saving significantly on materials.

EvoBus is one of the largest bus companies in Europe and has been working with BASF for many years. In 2012, Daimler presented BASF Coatings with a Daimler Supplier Award in the “Trucks and Buses Exterior” category. This award recognizes innovative solutions, high flexibility and global availability.