White soon to be cost option?

[burg748]

Was in the dealers today, specing up my scirocco r and was talking to the sales woman, apparently vw are changing the price of candy white to £200 shortly. Said they had 'caught on' so to speak. Anyway I was after indium grey! Just thought I'd let yous know

[ZephyR]

Interesting. Does this signal a price rise generally or just some tweaking of the range and option ?

But "caught on" ?? Its been the most popular colour since launch and was the colour mainly used in their advertising stuff.

[Deacon]

Isn't it the new white (a pearl effect I think) that's the cost option?

[ZephyR]

Isn't it the new white (a pearl effect I think) that's the cost option?

Yes it is, but that's £900 not £200.

[RW1]

It may be more fundamental than just popularity........

What makes white paint white? .............. Titanium Dioxide!

When used as a pigment, it is called titanium white, Pigment White 6, or CI 77891. Its cost has been rising!!

Titanium dioxide prices climb nearly 50% this year; a potential alternative appears
By Matt Defosse
Published: October 20th, 2011

If you manufacture anything, it is hard not to use titanium dioxide. According to some sources, it accounts for 70% of the total production volume of pigments worldwide. It is used in paints, coatings, toothpaste, concrete, foods, sunscreen-the list goes on and on. It also, of course, is used in plastics, and that is becoming a problem as the prices of the pigment shoot skyward-up about 45% this year alone.
Recent prices hikes for TiO¬2 include the market leader, Dupont, announcing a $300/ton price increase. Huntsman hiked its prices for the pigment by $200/ton and Kronos by $250/ton.
According to the pricing information service ICIS, DuPont's $0.15/lb price increase for North America TiO¬2 grades, effective Nov. 1, likely will be implemented in Feb. 2012 since most contracts enjoy 90 days of price protection. According to ICIS, roughly $0.15/lb (+9%) of the last increase (effective July 1, but implemented on Oct.1) likely went through, bringing the North America price to $1.87/lb for 4Q11, up 45% since the start of 2011.
ICIS predicts little respite for buyers of the pigment "given supply constraints that won't be resolved for several years."
One result may be a drop in the number of companies choosing to incorporate "Apple white" into their products. One company hoping to profit from the TiO¬2 price increases is PQ Corp. of Malvern, PA. The company, a supplier of inorganic specialty chemicals and engineered glass materials, this month announced the launch of ADVERA Ti, a pigment it says can be used for partial replacement of titanium dioxide in coatings, plastics, paper coatings, and other markets.

Titanium Dioxide.JPG

So the costs may be disprotionate to standard non metalic paint colours but not as high as metalic/pearlescent paint. And it may be cos Onyx White was released recently in UK since the price rises in the raw material, the cost increases are already priced into that option at £900 as opposed to £495 for other metallic paints.

C.

[Stormtrooper1]

Ford have done the same, they now charge for white!

Andy

[burg748]

Prob see a trend with most manufacturers charging for the solid white now then. Tried to see if they had any cars with the pearl white to see the difference to candy and if its worth the extra. But no joy.

[Fifer]

So is red to be the only 'no cost' option? I've only seen a couple of red rocs, but it looks nice.

[rm0rgan]

I heard this too at the dealers last week.

[BenBAC]

Didn't it used to be that solid colours were a no cost option and met was a cost option. A friend told me the other day their insurance company advised them they had to declare cost option paint as it was an addition over standard spec.

[Mark V]

It has always been like that - until now! Traditioanally 'solid' paint was quicker/cheaper to apply as it was only one top coat. However in recent years manufacturers have taken to adding a clear coat (as they do with metallics) to provide a deeper shine and depth to the finish of solid paints such as white and red. Apart from any cost implications raisd by teh raw materials the fact that two processes are neede has a significant bearing on cost. So in a way this additional cost is justified but in rality should include red as well as that has a clear coat! Of course common sense dictates just abolishing all these extra paint charges - and the Roc range is a good example of why its so silly - as it now has only one colour that does not command a premium.

[Stormtrooper1]

I dont think this has anything to do with applying clear coats etc.

Its simple - white is 10x more popular nowadays and they arent making anywhere near as much money on metallics because so many people take white.

Economics mean everyone likes white, then they pay for it!

Look at the following cars....all very popular in white:

Scirocco
Golf
Up!
Evoque
New Focus ST
Audi A4
Audi A3
Fiesta zetec s

Andy

[Cuprabob]

Also matches with your domestic appliances :-)

[ZephyR]

I dont think this has anything to do with applying clear coats etc.

Its simple - white is 10x more popular nowadays and they arent making anywhere near as much money on metallics because so many people take white.

Economics mean everyone likes white, then they pay for it!

I think you've hit the nail very firmly on the head

[RisingRoc]

...and just watch the value of white cars drop in the second hand market as everyone realises they are everywhere and pain to keep clean!

[trix935]

on the two year lease for my Scirocco company car it was actually cheaper to have a metallic option believe it or not. The reason being despite the £500 cost option the car is easier for the leasing company to sell and has a higher residual value. Shame because I wanted white!

[voyager]

A simple case of profiteering. People like white so stick on a price premium.

[Mark V]

I dont think this has anything to do with applying clear coats etc.

Not now, no. I was making the point that the reason manufacturers started to charge for metallic paint was justified by the more complex application process and raw material costs. The forthcoming premium on Candy White is most certainly motivated by the fact that they can simply get away with it as the colour is in demand and people are prepared to spend a premium sum on most colours in the range anyway!

[maisbitt]

They will charge whatever they can get away with. VWs sold in the USA (Roc not available there) have metallic paint as a no cost option, and they pay a hell of a lot less for their VWs than we do - a Golf GTI is approx £17k. Yanks won't pay for metallic paint, but we will.

Do Candy white and Salsa red really have a clear coat on them? When you buy a touch up stick for these 2 colours you only get the colour, not the clear coat as well like you do for metallics.

The trouble with Salsa red is that the finished shade variation between bodywork and bumpers is huge, much more pronounced than any other Roc colour i've seen.

[rm0rgan]

...and just watch the value of white cars drop in the second hand market as everyone realises they are everywhere and pain to keep clean!

Really? This recent article would seem to suggest the opposite

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... stest.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I found this quote interesting - "Blue cars still languish below market average values, continuing to earn the trade's disdain with popular label of 'doom blue'"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z29jESxAlz" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Some cars are just suited to white better than others- I don't think any manufacturer would miss out on the opportunity to make a little extra margin if they can