'It's an emotional business, and people get wedded to certain colors,' he said. That's because consumers often make buying decisions based on color, he said. The colors are: Brilliant Black, Deep Cherry Red, Redline, Inferno, Bronze Star, Rugged Brown, Hunter Green, Ivory, Billet Silver and Blackberry Pearl.ДЄs paint and pigment suppliers rush to engineer alternatives, the Xirallic shortage could affect auto sales, said Mike Wall, senior manager of strategic analysis for Northville-based IHS Automotive Inc. In a routine year, the company averages two cleanings per month, Finkiewicz said.ДЄutomaker executives said the typical response has been to inform dealers that some colors are at a premium, or just not available at all.Д¬hrysler Group LLC doesn't expect any production impacts from the shortage but has restricted new vehicle orders in 10 colors, said Katie Hepler, manager of purchasing communications for the automaker, in an emailed statement. Gage has 12 cleaning jobs lined up at plants across the globe over the next two weeks to clean out Xirallic systems. Gage Products Inc., a Ferndale-based company that cleans and services automotive painting systems, has already been dispatched by several automakers to clean out painting systems that used Xirallic.ДЄutomakers must clean the Xirallic paint systems before introducing a non-metallic paint to keep production lines moving, said Dan Finkiewicz, chairman and president of the 110-employee company. 'It can't be easily replaced with the quality our customers expect, and that's the biggest challenge right now,' she said.Д«ASF also is working with OEMs to provide alternative pigments. Darker paints with the pigment have a metallic appearance, and lighter colors produce a pearl-like appearance. The Xirallic pigment produces a glitter effect, especially in sunlight. The problem is that the effect Xirallic gives to automotive paints can't be easily replicated, said Stacey Russell, marketing communications manager for Southfield-based OEM coatings group and automotive refinish solutions unit of Ludwigshafen, Germany-based BASF Corp. 'We have proposed alternatives to the OEMs but haven't moved forward yet.' 'We formed teams to tackle the problem as quickly as possible and, at this point, we're still working on alternatives,' said Mike Millar, manager of strategic marketing. Pittsburgh-based PPG Industries Inc., with its automotive coatings operations based in Troy, also is trying to create an alternative to the metallic or 'pearl' effect of Merck's Xirallic pigment. 'We are also closely monitoring the limited availability of Xirallic pigments and the potential impact to our refinish customers.' 'DuPont is making every attempt to work with our OEM customers to minimize disruptions,' he said in an emailed statement. Nigel Budden, director of DuPont Performance Coatings North America. Clemens, is affected by the Xirallic shortage, said K. automotive suppliers are scrambling for alternatives as their supplies of Xirallic run out.ДuPont Automotive, which operates its North American automotive coatings business in Mt. While workers have re-entered the plant to begin repairs, its location - a mere 28 miles from the Fukujima-Daiichi nuclear reactor - leaves its future questionable.ДЄnd while the world waits for Japan's nuclear crisis to come under control, U.S. Tuxedo Black, Blackberry Pearl and dozens of other metallic-infused paints used on vehicles are in short supply - and that has metro Detroit paint and coatings companies and research offices looking for workarounds or making contingency plans.Дarmstadt, Germany-based Merck KGaA produces its patented Xirallic paint pigment solely at its Onahama, Japan, plant, which was destroyed by the 8.9-magnitude earthquake that rocked the island nation in March.

Blackberry pearl