BASF Celebrates 90 Years of R-M® Automotive Refinish Paint


SOUTHFIELD, MI, June 9, 2009 - BASF Automotive Refinish today announced that it is celebrating the 90th anniversary of one of its automotive
refinish paint brands, R-M, founded in the summer of 1919. Today, the R-M
product line contains well-known names like DIAMONT®, ONYX HD(TM) and CARIZZMA ®, and is used throughout the world by collision repair shops and customizers alike.

It all started with a duck...

That's right, a duck decoy...and it was made and painted by the Mason Decoy Factory in Detroit, Michigan, in 1896. By 1919, the company's founder, Herbert Mason, had developed another use for his paints and joined forces with friend, Fred Rinshed, to form the Rinshed-Mason (R-M) Company, which soon became the largest paint supplier to the growing automotive industry.

Very early on, R-M gained an outstanding reputation for innovation and quality, and was the first paint company to supply high performance lacquers to Cadillac. R-M also pioneered Florida testing to assess the weathering abilities of paints, which rapidly became the industry standard.

R-M launched the first tinting base system in 1948. This major advancement signaled the birth of the mixing machine, which continues today to be the industry standard.

...And continues with BASF

Today, R-M is a division of BASF Coatings. BASF Coatings is part of BASF, the world's leading chemical company. BASF continues to drive the R-M philosophy by working closely with the world's leading vehicle manufacturers to develop innovative solutions in OEM finishes, as well as automotive refinish, through the development of efficient, state-of-the-art and environmentally friendly coatings technology.

The R-M philosophy

The R-M philosophy is based on a global offer that is geared toward the long-term profitability of its bodyshop customers, by developing innovative, user-friendly paint systems that provide the flexibility bodyshops need to increase throughput and profitability by reducing material consumption and process times, while at the same time, respecting the environment. Learn more about BASF and the R-M line of automotive refinish paints at www.basfrefinish.com.

BASF - The Chemical Company. We don't make a lot of the products you buy.
We make a lot of the products you buy better.®

BASF Corporation, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, is the North American affiliate of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has more than 15,000 employees in North America, and had sales of $17.5 billion in 2008.
For more information about BASF's North American operations, or to sign up to receive news releases by e-mail, visit www.basf.com/usa.

BASF is the world's leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics and performance products to agricultural products, fine chemicals as well as oil and gas. As a reliable partner BASF helps its customers in virtually all industries to be more successful. With its high-value products and intelligent solutions, BASF plays an important role in finding answers to global challenges such as climate protection, energy efficiency, nutrition and mobility. BASF has approximately 97,000 employees and posted sales of more than 62 billion in 2008. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (AN). Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com.

For more information contact:

Sue Jaszkowski
BASF Corporation
Tel: (248) 948-2253
E-mail: susan.jaszkowski@basf.com

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