Niche Market Opens for Electric Vehicle Repair Paints

Electric Vehicle Devices Sensitive to High Heat, Low-Temperature Drying with Specialized Paint
Domestic Companies like KCC Enter Market Dominated by Foreign Paint Firms

A painting technician applying the final stage of coating for electric vehicle maintenance, the 'clear coating.'
[Photo by KCC]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] As electric vehicle sales increase, the paint market for electric vehicle repairs is also growing as a niche market. Although the market is not yet large, its size is gradually expanding, and domestic companies, led by KCC, are entering the market that was previously monopolized by foreign paint companies.

When manufacturing new cars, the painting process for electric vehicles is the same as for internal combustion engine vehicles, but for repairs, specialized paint must be used. For regular cars, after painting during repairs, a heater blowing hot air at 80~90℃ is used to dry the paint at high temperature. In contrast, electric vehicles contain various electrical components sensitive to heat, and exposure to high temperatures can cause internal short circuits and damage. Therefore, after painting repairs on electric vehicles, drying must be done at a low temperature of 50~60℃.

Among domestic paint companies, KCC is the only one to have commercialized paint for electric vehicle repairs. In March, KCC launched the electric vehicle repair paint ‘6143 QHS CLEAR,’ which achieved sales about twice its target within just over two months. This paint is a fast-drying product that dries in 10 minutes at 60℃ and 30 minutes at 40℃.

With KCC’s full-scale entry into the domestic electric vehicle repair paint market, it has become possible to compete with foreign paint companies that have dominated this market. In the general automotive repair paint market, KCC and Noroo Paint each hold a 40% market share, leading the market. However, as domestic paint companies were slow to develop electric vehicle repair paints, the domestic market had no choice but to be fully handed over to foreign paint companies until now.

Noroo Paint and Samhwa Paint are also accelerating the development of related products. Since these companies have already established themselves in the existing market, it is expected that the development of electric vehicle repair paints will not take long. An industry insider said, "The automotive repair paint market is worth 100 billion KRW, and a portion of this is the electric vehicle repair paint market," adding, "Although foreign companies have monopolized this segment, domestic paint companies are now rushing to enter the market as demand increases."

According to the paint industry and the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association, domestic electric vehicle sales have sharply increased from 14,864 units in 2017 to 63,120 units in 2020, and 128,629 units last year.