The Mazda Motor Corporation introduced Rhodium White Premium, a special paint colour born from our unique TAKUMINURI*1 painting technology. This new tone will be available summer 2022, predominantly for its Large Product group models, starting with the all-new Mazda CX-60*2.
Mazda believes paintwork is a crucial part of what gives shape to a vehicle, and thus the company is focusing efforts on developing hues that accentuate a dynamic and delicate expression via the Kodo – Soul of Motion design theme. Rhodium White Premium is a pure white inspired by Japanese aesthetics, finding beauty in simplicity and the absence of superfluous elements. Furthermore, the paint’s fine grain accentuates the shadows on the surface of the vehicle complimenting the metallic texture of Rhodium White Premium.
Developing Rhodium White Premium, Mazda was able to take TAKUMINURI to new heights, successfully mass producing an expressive finish using only three layers: a clear layer, a reflective layer and the coloured layer. This coloured layer provides a newly developed white pigment that delivers a silky smooth, fine-grain white. As standard practice with white paints, the undercoat tends to show through, and the clear coat is generally thicker than for other tonalities. Rhodium White Premium however, uses a newly developed pigment thanks to which Mazda was able to reduce the thickness of the clear coat by up to 30%*3. This contributes to a more efficient use of resources and a reduction of CO2 emissions during the production process.
Mazda uses a method in which paint containing ultra-thin, high luminance aluminum flakes are applied meticulously to achieve a uniform thickness and which then dramatically shrink in volume during the drying process for the reflective layer. The result is an extremely thin reflective layer of approximately 0.5 microns or about 7% of the thickness of a typical reflective layer.
Moreover, the Hiroshima based company was able to achieve a hand-painted like finish with the aluminum flakes smoothly aligned at regular intervals in the reflective layer*4. The entire surface gleams when exposed to light and displays a realistic metallic texture. Individual aluminum flakes are distributed evenly and parallel to the undulations of the body surface, producing a glossy and shaded appearance when touched by light despite the brightness of Rhodium White Premium.
As Mazda believes paint to be a key component of any vehicle, it will continue to pursue new colour expressions and painting technologies to enhance the attractiveness of their products.
