Automotive: BASF Coatings/NIO tie-up for automotive coatings; Sumitomo Chemical to sell chemically-recycled PMMA to auto companies

Germany-based BASF Coatings and Chinese smart electric vehicle pioneer NIO have formed a partnership to enhance cooperation in the automotive coatings sector.

As part of the strategic cooperation, BASF Coatings intends to provide NIO with an extensive range of products tailored to meet specific technical requirements and other services, including colour design, colour development, digital solutions, sustainability initiatives, workshops, and technical support.

”The signing of today’s strategic partnership agreement builds on ten years of successful collaboration. NIO has established a leading position for electric vehicles through advanced technology and a clear brand identity. Together, we will keep on exploring innovative technologies and we will support NIO in reaching its sustainability targets and future goals,” said Uta Holzenkamp, President of BASF Coatings.

Founded in 2014, NIO has R&D and manufacturing facilities in Shanghai, Hefei, Beijing, Nanjing, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Wuhan, San Jose, Munich, Oxford, Berlin, Budapest, Singapore and Abu Dhabi. The company has also established sales and service networks in China, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, the UAE, Israel and Azerbaijan.

NIO Inc. currently offers nine premium smart electric vehicle models under the NIO brand and one smart electric vehicle under the ONVO brand. Firefly has started its pre-orders in China. As of January 31, 2025, NIO Inc. had delivered a total of 685,427 vehicles, leading the premium BEV segment priced above RMB300,000.
 

In other news, Japan’s Sumitomo Chemical says it will begin selling its polymer material polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) made from methyl methacrylate (MMA) monomer produced through chemical recycling. LG Display Co of South Korea and Nissan Motor Co of Japan have decided to use this chemically-recycled material for their products.

In 2022, Sumitomo Chemical constructed a new pilot facility for the chemical recycling of PMMA at its Ehime Works located in Niihama City, Ehime Prefecture, Japan. It has also implemented such initiatives as a joint project with Niihama City to recycle PMMA protective partition panels, which are used for reducing the spread of droplets, in the area, as well as providing its chemically-recycled PMMA as raw material for the acrylic jewellery sold by Star Jewelry Co.

In addition, Sumitomo Chemical has received third-party certifications, such as the ISCC Plus certification, and is making efforts to globally implementing practical recycling systems using the mass balance approach.

Sumitomo Chemical will provide its chemically recycled PMMA produced in mass production facilities for applications that require high quality, such as electronics and automotive industry. The company will start selling the product to LG Display as raw material for light guide plates used in backlight units for liquid crystal displays and to Nissan Motor as raw material for lenses used in vehicle headlights.

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