BASF Refinish Coatings, Designer Give Compact Acura SUV a ‘Makeover’

Industrial designer Michael Young used BASF‘s refinish paint brand R-M on the Acura CDX compact SUV.

Launched in Asia for the first time, the R-M THE CODE project unveiled the new Acura CDX at BASF-TGPM Automotive Refinish Competence Center (RCC) in Foshan, Guangdong Province.

In 2018, R-M invited a variety of international, prestigious designers from Europe to initiate the R-M THE CODE project, to showcase their visions for the future of mobility.

A total of 10 designers from 10 countries worked on various forms of transportation over one year on individual projects, including an Aston Martin, a driverless battery-electric bus, an electric scooter and a boat.

R-M supported the designers with its color database and refinishing competence as well as its experts from its color laboratories.

THE CODE stands for a special color code for each designer and each project.

The Acura boasts the newly designed color, “New English White” which was created by Young for the car-sharing concept, especially for urban consumers in China.

“This is the first time I have ever designed a color for a car,” Young said. “The inspiration stems from a historic color called Old English White, which has been used a lot on classic sports cars. When I discovered the qualities of the R-M paints, I decided to modernize the color and created ‘New English White,’ a fairly neutral and generalized color easily related to everyone. It has a sense of history while bringing the 21st century into a new decade.”

“R-M THE CODE helps showcase the future of mobility in colors and design. We underpin R-M’s position as a leading innovative premium brand in the Asian refinish market, which provides our customers with creativity and flexibility in the next generation of colors and design,” said Chris Titmarsh, VP, Automotive Refinish Coatings, Asia Pacific, BASF. “With R-M paint, we are motivating designers and engineers to create the concepts of the future through experimental design and challenging R-M’s full potential in innovation.” 

This year, R-M brand is celebrating its 100 years in business globally.