Nippon Paint Automotive Printing and Spraying Technology Wins “2026 Ringier Technology Innovation Award,” Accelerating Local Multi-Color Coating Industrialization

ShanghaiMay 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — From May 19 to 20, the 2026 China Coatings and Inks Summit & Exhibition was held in Shanghai. Concurrently, the results of the “2026 Ringier Technology Innovation Awards” were announced, with Nippon Paint’s Automotive Printing Spray Technology standing out from over a hundred nominated solutions to receive this honor. Founded by Ringier Trade Media Ltd., the Ringier Technology Innovation Awards have been deeply rooted in China’s industrial sector for nearly three decades and are recognized as one of the most professionally influential technology awards in the coatings industry. The award-winning automotive printing spray technology involved deep core research by Nippon Paint China’s R&D team, collaborating with global technical forces to bridge the entire chain from process integration to mature mass production, propelling this innovative process into a new phase of industrial application.

As the automotive consumer market’s demand for personalized body colors continues to grow, multi-color painting is transitioning from high-end customization to large-scale production, placing higher demands on the efficiency and environmental performance of the painting process. Against this backdrop, Nippon Paint’s Automotive Printing Spray Technology leverages the deep integration of high-precision robotic arms with its exclusive waterborne coating system to consolidate traditional multi-day, multi-step processes into a single operation, achieving precise one-time spraying on complex curved vehicle surfaces. Additionally, as the entire spraying process eliminates the need for plastic masking materials, the technology prevents the generation of plastic waste at the source. Combined with the waterborne coating formulation, it also significantly reduces volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions.

In terms of industrialization progress, Nippon Paint, in collaboration with ABB^[1] and Stellantis^[2], is jointly advancing the automotive printing spray technology from the laboratory to mass production. Nippon Paint China’s R&D team has been deeply involved in core research since the project’s inception, coordinating global technical expertise to resolve issues of coating formulation and process compatibility. The technological outcomes have been implemented in a new production line at Stellantis’ French plant, which has completed trial runs and is expected to commence formal production by the end of 2026.

Building on global technological achievements and mass production experience, Nippon Paint is actively responding to the growing demand from domestic automakers for personalized painting, accelerating the introduction of this innovative process to the Chinese market. Currently, Nippon Paint has initiated discussions and production line pilot projects with several leading domestic OEMs, driving the large-scale application of this technology in China.

As a global enterprise with over three decades of deep roots in the Chinese market, Nippon Paint will use this as a new starting point to continuously integrate global supply chain resources with local R&D and service capabilities, driving the industrial application of automotive painting innovations in more scenarios, helping the global automotive industry move towards a more efficient and sustainable future.