BASF and Sheen Group have combined strengths to refinish 260 fabricated panels in BASF’s premium refinish brand Glasurit for vehicle manufacturer INEOS Automotive for their 26 agent sites across Australia.
Australian market, build their Grenadier, a serious off-road vehicle from the ground up, from their state-of-the-art factory in Hambach, Europe. The production factory, the size of six football fields, features over 250 fully automated robots allowing Grenadier to create a body every five minutes.
INEOS Automotive have approved BASF’s premium refinish brand Glasurit for the finish during the production of their Grenadier vehicles in Europe and have been taking orders for their purpose-built four wheel drive since May 2022.
“It is very exciting to welcome a new OEM into the market,” said Madeleine Van, Strategic Accounts, BASF Australia. “BASF have a unique opportunity to partner and grow with INEOS Automotive.
“When developing the Grenadier, INEOS Automotive selected best-in-class suppliers, and BASF is no exception.” said Justin Hocevar, Head of Region – APAC, INEOS Automotive. “Our customers need an accurate sample of our range of colours to confidently make their choice, so we are proud that Sheen, Kangan and BASF could combine to supply our new agent network in time for their 2023 opening.”
Talented apprentices within the Sheen Group network, Justin MacGill and Vasilia Kyriacopoulos, were selected by Sheen Group to undertake the task of refinishing the fabricated panels in the 10 different colour options available for the Grenadier under the guidance of Graeme Dunn, a Technical Sales Representative from BASF Australia.
“Thanks to Kangan, BASF and INEOS for this great opportunity” said Tony Todaro, Sheen Apprenticeship Manager, “Justin and Vasilia did an awesome job and represented themselves and Sheen Group to a very high standard”.
The use of Glasurit 90 Line, a waterborne basecoat system, was chosen as the paint line for the panels. The panels will allow customers to choose their vehicles colour from the 10 distinct options on offer for the Grenadier. The refinishing of the fabricated panels took place at the Kangan Institute of TAFE’s Automotive Centre of Excellence campus at Docklands, Victoria, a facility the BASF Australia training team have conducted Glasurit programs with the Sheen Group apprentice network over the last year.