Read the latest issue of the magazine dedicated to surface treatments and organic and inorganic finishes – Special edition dedicated to automotive!
Are cars still aspirational goods?
Aspirational customers are consumers who, despite not regularly purchasing luxury products or services, do so occasionally for personal gratification or to show off a particular lifestyle.
For decades, cars have embodied freedom, power, and social status, making them the perfect aspirational purchase. They have been the object of desire for entire generations, a cultural and technological totem that defined the 20th century.
For Gen Z, cars are no longer necessarily a dream to pursue. Their symbolic value has faded, replaced by more fluid priorities: sustainability, accessibility, experience. Ownership is giving way to usage. In a world where everything can be ‘on demand’, even cars are becoming a service rather than an object. That is why car sharing and integrated mobility models are gaining ground, especially in urban contexts.
However, thinking that passion for cars has disappeared would be a mistake. Instead, it has become polarised.
On the one hand, the rise of electric vehicles – silent, technological, often perceived as cold and uninspiring – responds to the need to reduce our environmental footprint. On the other hand, sports and classic cars – the ‘real’ cars – continue attracting a niche market of enthusiasts seeking excitement, identity, craftsmanship, and status.
How is the surface finishing industry responding to this transformation in the car concept?
Traditionally associated with aesthetics and protection, the surface treatment and finishing sector is evolving profoundly, becoming more and more deeply connected to the consumers’ experience of vehicles, be they private or shared cars, aeroplanes, or trains.
On the one hand, the paint industry is investing in more sustainable formulations: water-based products, low-temperature curing cycles, and high-performance coatings that last longer and have a lower environmental impact. On the other hand, there is growing demand for customised and high-end finishes, especially in the sports and collector car segment, where coating becomes a functional art form that helps convey uniqueness and identity. Even in the car sharing field, where cars are often anonymous, wrapping solutions and modular finishes are emerging that allow vehicles to be quickly reconfigured to suit different contexts.
You can read about how the industry is responding technologically to the need for flexibility, quality, and productivity on the part of OEMs and their suppliers in order to meet such new customer demands in this ipcm® issue’s special section dedicated to finishes in the automotive and transport world.
READ THE MAGAZINE!