Axalta’s Annual Latin America Distributor Convention – Cancún, México – Platform for Growth

Axalta Coating Systems concluded its annual Latin America regional distributor convention in Cancún, México with more than 600 attendees participating in business presentations and strategic planning meetings. The five-day event offered opportunities for distributors and other customers to hear from Axalta management about the latest global developments from investments in new facilities and R&D capabilities to acquisitions and new products.

“This event is a unique opportunity to come together with our distribution partners and customers from across the Latin America region to celebrate our business achievements over the past year, while also discussing new growth opportunities for the future,” explained Axalta Chairman and CEO Charlie Shaver who delivered the keynote address at the conference on Thursday. “Across the breadth of the region, the relationships that we have with distributors and end customers are the key to our mutual success. The business reviews and planning sessions provide all of us with a superb opportunity to learn from each other and build on the accomplishments of the previous year.”

“We Paint Winners,” Axalta’s automotive racing slogan, and “Think Big” provided the theme and backdrop of the conference. The close ties between the performance of the company’s coatings and success on the racetrack were underscored by remarks delivered by Jeff Gordon. Retired after 23 racing the Axalta sponsored No. 24 Team Chevy and now a consultant to Axalta, Gordon spoke to the group about the importance of combining latest generation technology, great planning and flawless execution in order to win on and off the track.

“This year’s conference also coincides with Axalta’s 150th anniversary and was a terrific opportunity to foster relationships across the region among our business partners and all of us at Axalta,” explained Jorge Cossio, President of Axalta’s Latin America region. “With new capacity and product introductions we’re poised to maintain our regional leadership positions in key segments, including the refinish aftermarket, fleets and commercial vehicles, while generating new growth opportunities in all our strategic markets. Participants were particularly excited to learn about our new mobile customer training program which brings directly to refinish technicians the latest ideas and tools for optimizing the use of our refinish brands.”

Axalta customers attending the convention were drawn from across the company’s end-markets which include light and commercial vehicle manufacturers, refinish body shops and a wide range of industrial applications. Workshops focused on business strategies to improve customers’ productivity, reviews of new products and customer support from Axalta, and an update on the company’s latest capital projects in the region which include new resin capacity in Mexico announced in April and a soon to open new manufacturing center in Argentina.

Participants at the meeting came from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Guatemala, México, Paraguay, Perú, Uruguay and Venezuela.