Our Pedigree in Colour

NEXA AUTOCOLOR® brand is proud of its long history of incorporating Colour Excellence into paint technology.

It all started with Nexa Autocolor's Nitrocellulose system – Belco™. The Belco paint line was ideal for the colours of its day. Compared to the earlier enamel paints, nitro-cellulose paints were a step forward in durability and, as every car was a solid colour, Belco delivered a rich deep finish that, when polished, gave a great final colour appearance.

With the introduction of metallic effect pigments on cars in the 1960s, Nexa Autocolor introduced 2K®. This allowed any car's metallic effect to be reproduced using the Single Layer Metallic system.

Further improvements were driven by the introduction of a 2K basecoat system. This solved the industry-wide issue of poor film protection, which was weakened by the metallic flakes being exposed to the surface of the film. With a basecoat system, the colour and pigment were protected by a shiny clearcoat, giving great colour with improved protection.

In 1992 Nexa Autocolor launched the industry's first waterborne basecoat – AQUABASE® This breakthrough technology delivered colour capability and durability in an environmentally friendly way.

In mid-2000 Nexa Autocolor launched Aquabase Plus. This next-generation waterborne basecoat gives improved application and blending qualities that deliver a "Right First Time" match to the original car colours. The range of colour effects is constantly growing with OEMs producing cars with high sparkle, glass flake, and bright reds and oranges.

Nexa Autocolor brand offer will continue to combine technological innovation with full colour capability.

NEXA AUTOCOLOR®, AQUABASE® and 2K® are registered trademarks of PPG Industries Ohio, Inc.